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A Little Girl in Old Salem 


THE “ LITTLE GIRL” SERIES 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD NEW YORK. 
HANNAH ANN; A SEQUEL. 

A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD BOSTON. 

A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD PHILADELPHIA. 
A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD WASHINGTON. 
A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD NEW ORLEANS. 
A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD DETROIT. 

A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD ST. LOUIS. 

A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD CHICAGO. 

A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SAN FRANCISCO. 
A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD QUEBEC. 

A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD BALTIMORE. 







*JU, 




A LITTLE GIRL IN 
OLD SALEM 


BY 

AMANDA M. DOUGLAS 

n 



NEW YORK 

DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 
1908 


UBXARY oi CONGRESS ' 
I wo Gooies Kect. ■.* 

SEP 25 laoa 

<■<*«> 

CLAdi gv. AAC. rtu. 

;\W£) 


Copyright, 1908 
By Dodd, Mead and Company 
Published, September, 1908 



CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I Two Letters 


• • 


PAGE 

I 

II 

The Little Girl . 

. 

• • 


19 

III 

A Stranger, yet at Home 

. 

• • 


36 

IV 

Unwelcome .... 

. 

• • 


52 

V 

Making Friends with the Little Girl . 


68 

VI 

Going to School . 

. 

• • 


9 i 

VII 

Changeful Lights of Childhood 

• • 


108 

VIII 

Sorrow's Crown of Sorrow 

. 

• • 


128 

IX 

Lessons of Life . 

. 

• • 


143 

X 

A New Departure 

. 

• • 


161 

XI 

The Voice of a Rose 

. 

• • 


180 

XII 

Changes in the Old House 

. 

• • 


194 

XIII 

A Taste of Pleasure 

. 

• • 


213 

XIV 

In Gay Old Salem 

. 

• • 


231 

XV 

Lovers and Lovers 

. 

• • 


248 

XVI 

Perilous Paths 

. 



270 

XVII 

The Flowering of the Soul 

. 



288 

XVIII 

The Passing of Old Salem 

# 



296 


# 



CHAPTER I 


TWO LETTERS 

The Leveretts were at their breakfast in the large 
sunny room in Derby Street. It had an outlook on 
the garden, and beyond the garden was a lane, well 
used and to be a street itself in the future. Then, at 
quite a distance, a strip of woods on a rise of ground, 
that still further enhanced the prospect. The sun 
slanted in at the windows on one side, there was noth- 
ing to shut it out. It would go all round the house 
now, and seem to end where it began, in the garden. 

Chilian was very fond of it. He always brought his 
book to the table ; he liked to eat slowly, to gaze out and 
digest one or two thoughts at his leisure, as well as 
the delightful breakfast set before him. He was a man 
of delicate tastes and much refinement, for with all the 
New England sturdiness, hardness one might say, there 
was in many families a strain of what we might term 
high breeding. His face, with its clear-cut features, 
indicated this. His hair was rather light, fine, with a 
few waves in it that gave it a slightly tumbled look — 
far from any touch of disorder. His eyes were a deep, 
clear blue, his complexion fair enough for a woman. 

His father and grandfather had lived and died in 


2 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


this house. He had bought out his sister’s share when 
she married, and she had gone to Providence. He 
had asked the two relatives of his father — termed 
cousins by courtesy — to continue housekeeping. They 
were the last of their family and in rather straitened 
circumstances. Miss Elizabeth was nearing sixty, tall, 
straight, fair, and rather austere-looking. Eunice was 
two years younger, shorter, a trifle stouter, with a 
rounder face, and a mouth that wore a certain sweet- 
ness when it did not actually smile. 

Chilian was past thirty. He was a Harvard grad- 
uate, and now went in two days each week for teaching 
classes. His father had left some business interests in 
Salem, rather distasteful to him, but he was a strictly 
conscientious person and attended to them, if with a 
sort of mental protest. For the rest, he was a book- 
worm and revelled in intellectual pursuits. 

The day previous had been desperately stormy, this 
late March morning was simply glorious. The mail, 
which came late in the afternoon, had not been deliv- 
ered, causing no uneasiness, as letters were not daily 
visitors. But now the serving-man, with a gentle rap, 
opened the door and said briefly : 

“ Letters.’’ 

Eunice rose and took them. 

“ An East Indian one for you, Chilian, and why — 
one from Boston — for you, Elizabeth. It is Cousin 
Giles’ hand.” 

Elizabeth reached for it. They were both so in- 


TWO LETTERS 


3 


terested that they took no note of Chilian’s missive. 
She cut carefully around the big wafer he had used. 
It was a large letter sheet, quite blue and not of over- 
fine quality. Envelopes had not come in and there 
was quite an art in folding a letter — unfolding it as 
well. 

“ Really what has started Cousin Giles ? I hope no 
one is dead ” 

“ There would have been a black seal.” 

“ Oh, yes, m’m ; ” making a curious sound with 
closed lips. “ They are well. Oh, the Thatchers have 
been visiting them and are coming out here for a week 
— why, on Saturday, and to-day is Thursday. Chil- 
ian, do you hear that ? ” 

“ What ? ” he asked, closing his book over his own 
letter. 

“ Why, the Thatchers are coming — on Saturday, not 
a long notice, and I don’t know how many. They have 
had a nice time in Boston — and Cousin Giles has been 
beauing them round and seems to like it. He might 
have sent you word on Tuesday, when you were in ; ” 
and Elizabeth’s tone expressed a grievance. 

“ And the house not cleaned ! It’s been so cold.” 

“ The house is always clean. Don’t, I beg of you, 
Cousin Bessy, turn it upside down and scrub and 
scour, and wear yourself out and take a bad cold. 
There are two guest chambers, and I suppose half a 
dozen more might be made ready.” 

“ That’s the man of it. I don’t believe a man would 


4 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


ever see dirt until some day when he had to dig him- 
self out, or call upon the women folks to do it.” 

Elizabeth always softened, in spite of her austerity, 
when he called her Bessy. The newer generation in- 
dulged in household diminutives occasionally. 

“ Well, there is to be no regular house-cleaning. We 
shall want fires a good six weeks yet.” 

“ I don’t see why Cousin Giles couldn’t have said 
how many there were. Let me see, Rachel Leverett, 
who married the Thatcher, was your father’s cousin. 
They went up in Vermont. Then they came to Con- 
cord. He” — which meant the head of the house — 
“ went to the State Legislature after the war. He had 
some sons married. Why, I haven’t seen them in 
years.” 

“ It will be just like meeting strangers,” declared 
Eunice. “ It’s almost as if we kept an inn.” 

Chilian turned. “ When I am in Boston to-morrow 
I will hunt up Cousin Giles.” 

“ Oh, that will be good of you.” 

He slipped his letter into the Latin book he had been 
going over, and with a slight inclination of the head 
left the room. The hall was wide, though it ended just 
beyond this door, where it led to the kitchen. The 
woodwork was of oak, darkened much by the years 
that had passed over it. The broad staircase showed 
signs of the many feet that had trodden up and down. 

Chilian’s study was directly over the living-room, 
and next to the sleeping-chamber. This part had 


TWO LETTERS 


5 


been added to the main house, but that was years ago. 
Bookshelves were ranged on two sides, but the win- 
dows interfered with their course around, two on each 
of the other sides. There was a wide fireplace between 
those at the west, and under them low closets, with 
cushions — ancestors of useful window-seats. A large 
easy-chair, covered with Cordovan leather, another 
curiously carved with a straight narrow strip up the 
back, set off by the side carving. The seat was broad 
and cushioned. Then one from France, as you could 
tell by the air and style, that had been in a palace. 
A low splint rocker, and one with a high back 
and comfortable cushions, inviting one to take a 
nap. 

The bookcases went about two-thirds of the way 
up and were ornamented by articles beautiful and 
grotesque from almost every land, for there had been 
seafaring men in the Leverett family, and more than 
one home in Salem could boast of treasures of this 
sort. 

Chilian stirred the fire, sending a shower of sparks 
up the chimney, and put on a fresh log. Then he 
settled himself in his chair and fingered his letter in 
an absent way. The last time Anthony wrote he 
vaguely suggested changes and chances and the un- 
certainty of life, rather despondent for a brisk busi- 
ness man who was always seeing opportunities at 
money-making. Had he been unfortunate in some of 
his ventures ? And it was odd in him to write so soon 


6 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


again. Not that they were ever frequent corre- 
spondents. 

He opened the letter slowly. It was tied about with 
a thread of waxed silk and sealed, so he cut about the 
seal deliberately; he had a delicate carefulness in all 
his ways that was rather womanly. Then unfolding 
it, he began to read. 

Was this what the previous letter had meant? Was 
Anthony Leverett nearing the end, counting his days, 
finishing up his earthly work, and delegating it to 
other hands? There was something pathetic in it, 
and the trust in the uprightness and honor that An- 
thony Leverett reposed in him touched him keenly. 
But this part surprised and, at first, annoyed him. 
He drew his fine brows in a repellent sort of frown. 

“ Do you remember, Chilian, when you were a lad 
of eighteen, in your second year at Harvard, you came 
to Salem to recruit after a period of rather severe 
study? And you met Alletta Orne, who was four- 
and-twenty and engaged to me. In some sort of 
fashion we were all related. Your father had been 
like a father to me in my later boyhood. And, with 
a young man’s fervor, you fell in love with her. I was 
sorry then for any pain you suffered, I am glad now ; 
for there is no one else in the wide world I would as 
soon trust her child and mine to. 

“We had been away nearly three years, when we 
came back, and the baby was born in the house en- 


TWO LETTERS 


7 


deared to me by many tender recollections. You were 
away then, but on our second visit we were the most 
congenial friends again. I did not think then it 
would be our last meeting. I had meant, after making 
my fortune, to return and end my days in my birth- 
place. My greatest interest was in the commer- 
cial house I had established. My first mate, John 
Corwin, took my place and sailed the vessel. Then 
my dear wife died, and I had only my little girl 
left. 

“ I could hardly believe six months ago that I must 
die. Should I return, or remain here and sleep beside 
the one who had filled my soul with her serene and 
lovely life and her blessed memory? I could not en- 
dure the thought of leaving her precious body here 
alone. So I chose to remain. And now I send my 
little girl to your care and guardianship without even 
consulting you. She is amply provided for, though 
the business this side of the world cannot be settled 
in some time. I send her with a trusty maid and 
Captain Corwin, because I do not want her to remem- 
ber the end. Some day you can tell her I am sleeping 
beside her dear mother and that we are together in the 
Better Land. She has been separated considerably 
from me of late, — I have had to be journeying about 
on business, — therefore it will not come so hard to 
her, and though children do not forget, the sorrow 
softens and has a tender vagueness from the hand of 
time. 


8 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


" So I give my little girl to you. If so be you 
should marry and have children of your own, she will 
not be crowded out, I know. In the course of years, — 
for girls grow rapidly up to womanhood, — she may 
love and marry. Direct her a little here and see that 
no one takes her for the mere money. I want her to 
know the sweetness and richness of a true satisfying 
love.” 

All important papers, and a sort of diary Anthony 
Leverett had kept, were to come in the vessel that 
would bring the little girl in the charge of Captain 
Corwin. 

Chilian Leverett sat for a long while with the letter 
in his hand, until the log broke in the middle and one 
end fell over the andiron. Then he started suddenly. 

Had he been dreaming of the sweetness of the 
woman who had so captivated his youthful fancy, 
almost a dozen years agone? He never thought she 
had led him astray, and had no blame for her. Perhaps 
the love for her betrothed had so permeated her whole 
being that she shed an exquisitely fascinating sweet- 
ness all about. He was to her as if he had been her 
betrothed’s younger brother. And when the engage- 
ment was confessed he allowed himself no reprehensi- 
ble longing for the woman so soon to be another’s. All 
his instincts were pure and high, perhaps rather too 
idealized, though there was much strength and hero- 
ism in the old Puritan blood. Right was right in those 


TWO LETTERS 


9 


days. Lines were sharply drawn among those of the 
old stock. 

But there had been years of what one might call 
living for self, indulgence in studious habits and 
tastes and the higher intellectual life, much solitary 
dreaming, although he was by no means a recluse. 
And to have a little girl come into his life ! He would 
have liked a boy better, he thought. The boy would 
be out of doors, playing with mates. And now he 
bethought himself how few small children there were 
in his branch of the Leverett line. Some of the men 
and women had not married. His brother and one 
sister had died in childhood. The first cousins were 
nearly all older than he, many of them had dropped 
out of life. A little girl! No chance to decline the 
trust — well, he would hardly have done that. He 
knew Anthony Leverett had counted on a serene old 
age in his native town. And he was not much past 
middle life. What had befallen him? 

Well, there was nothing to be done. He read the 
letter over again. Then he turned to some papers to 
compose his mind. There was a stir in the next room, 
his sleeping^chamber. He always opened the windows 
and closed the door between. After the dishes were 
washed and the dining-room and hall brushed up, 
Elizabeth came upstairs and made the two beds. 
When he had gone to Cambridge she opened the door 
between. So she did not disturb him now, but crossed 
the hall and inspected the two guest-chambers. She 


IO 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


had swept them a week or so ago and had settled in 
her mind that they would do until house-cleaning time. 
To be sure, if she cleaned them now they would need 
it when the guests were gone. And Chilian had a 
man’s objection to house-cleaning. It was hardly time 
to put away blankets. She wished she knew how 
many guests there would be. 

The rooms were full of old Colonial furniture that 
had been in the family for generations. Every spring 
Elizabeth polished the mahogany until it shone. She 
dusted now, though there was hardly a speck visible. 
The snow through the winter had laid it, and the 
spring rains had not allowed it to rear its head. 

Chilian put on his coat presently and sallied out for 
his morning exercise. The family had been connected 
with shipbuilding to a certain extent, and there was 
the old warehouse where vessels came in with their 
precious cargoes from civilized and barbaric lands. 
For at the close of the Revolutionary War the men of 
note, many of whom had not disdained privateering, 
found themselves in possession of idle fleets, that with 
their able seamen could outsail almost anything afloat. 
So they struck out for new ventures in unknown seas 
and new channels of trade. Calcutta, Bombay, Zanzi- 
bar, Madagascar, Batavia, and other ports came to 
know the American flag and the busy enterprising 
traders. 

But the old Salem that was once the capital of the 
state, the Salem of John Endicott and Roger Williams, 


TWO LETTERS 


iz 


of stern Puritanism, of terrible witchcraft horrors, and 
then of the sturdy and vigorous stand in her differ- 
ences with the mother country, her patriotism through 
the darkest days, was fast fading away, just as this 
grand commercial epoch was destined to merge into 
science and educational fame later on, and give to the 
world some master spirits. But as he wended his way 
hither and thither in a desultory fashion, one thought 
almost like spoken words kept running through his 
mind — “ A little girl — a little girl in Old Salem ” — for 
the almost two hundred years gave her the right to 
that eminence, and a little girl from a foreign land 
seemed incongruous. Not but that there were little 
girls in Salem, but their life-lines did not touch his. 
And this one came so near, for the sake of both parents 
he had loved. 

When he came in to dinner, he had made up his 
mind to say nothing of his letter until the guests had 
come and gone. He did not wish to be deluged with 
questions. 

He hunted up Cousin Giles the next day, who was 
quite a real-estate dealer, investing his own and other 
people’s money in sound mortgages, who had been a 
widower so long that he had quite gone back to bach- 
elorhood. 

And he found three Thatcher cousins — a widow, a 
married one, and a single one, the youngest of the 
family, but past girlhood. He was asked to take 
luncheon with them and they proved quite agreeable 


12 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


and intelligent, and much pleased at the prospect of 
seeing Elizabeth and Eunice Leverett. 

“ We have been hunting up several of the Boston 
relatives,” said Miss Thatcher, with a kind of win- 
some smile. “ Cousin Giles has been a good directory. 
We’ve kept in with so few of them. Father hunted 
up some of them while he was in the Legislature, but 
they are so scattered about and many of them dead. 
Mother was your father’s cousin, I believe.” 

Chilian gave a graceful inclination of the head. 

“ Elizabeth and Eunice visited us years ago, along 
after the war when I was first left a widow,” ex- 
plained Mrs. Brent. “ Henry went all through it, but 
was worn out, and died in ’88. But I’ve two nice sons, 
who are a great comfort. Father was very good to 
them and me. And they’re both promising farmers.” 

“ I tell her that’s a good deal to be thankful for,” 
remarked Cousin Giles. 

“ It is indeed,” commented Chilian. 

“And I have a lad who is all for study and wants 
to come in to Harvard. He has been teaching school 
this winter. His father’s quite set against it, and I 
don’t know how it will end. He will be only nineteen 
in August, and his father thinks he has a hold on him 
two years longer.” 

Mrs. Drayton looked up rather appealingly. 

“If his mind is made up to that, he will work his 
way through,” said Chilian, and he thought he should 
like to know the boy. 


TWO LETTERS 


*3 


" You see the next two are girls and they can’t help 
much about a farm. Father really needs him. And I 
seem to stand between two fires. His teaching term 
will end in May, but he has planned to take the school 
next winter. He has made quite a bit of money.” 

Chilian thought he would be a lad fully worth 
helping, and made a mental note of it. He liked the 
mother. 

It was settled that they would reach Salem about 
noon in the stage, the only mode of conveyance, and 
they parted with a pleased friendliness. 

Chilian rehearsed the interview at home to the great 
delight of the household. Indeed, he had been very 
well pleased with the prospective visitors and he felt 
rather thankful for the respite from the shadow the 
coming event was casting. A little girl ! It did annoy 
him. 

He did not allow it to interfere with his duties as 
host, however. The three ladies had a most delightful 
visit at Salem, looking up points of interest and hear- 
ing old history concerning the Leveretts. Chilian’s 
father had jotted down many facts. There were sea- 
faring uncles, who had brought home trophies; there 
were men in the family, who had died for their country 
if they had not filled eminent positions; others who 
had. How this branch of the family seemed to have 
dwindled away! 

Serena Thatcher was more than pleased with her 
cousin, though she felt somewhat awed by his attain- 


14 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


ments and his rather punctilious ways. Mrs. Brent 
set him down as a good deal of a Miss Nancy. But 
the ladies had a delightful time going over family 
histories and getting relationships disentangled. 

When the eventful day of parting came it brought 
a very real sorrow. They made promises that they 
would renew their meetings and keep each other in 
mind. 

It was Saturday evening when the Leverett house- 
hold sat around the cheerful fire in the cozy room 
where the small family gathered on this evening of 
the week with their work all done, after the fashion of 
the past, still strictly observed by many of the older 
Puritan families. The industrious ladies sat with 
folded hands. Sometimes Chilian read aloud from a 
volume of the divines who had finished their good 
fight. 

This night he was gazing idly in the fire, the lines 
in his face deepening now and then. 

“ I suppose he is tired with all the talk, and rambles, 
and confusion of the week,” Elizabeth thought, steal- 
ing furtive glances at him. 

He straightened himself presently and made a pre- 
tence of clearing his throat, as an embarrassed person 
often does. 

u I have something to tell you,” he began. “ I 
thought I would not disturb you while opr relatives 
were here. We found enough to talk about ; ” with a 
short half-laugh. 


TWO LETTERS 


15 


“ And it tired you out, I know. We live so quietly 
that such an event quite upsets us,” Eunice said in. a 
gentle, deprecating tone. 

“ It was very pleasant,” he added. “ I was a good 
deal interested in Anthony Drayton. But this is some- 
thing quite different. Can you recall that I had a 
letter from the East Indies the morning the word 
came from Cousin Giles ? ” 

“ Why, yes ! ” Elizabeth started in surprise. “ I had 
really forgotten about it. Business, I suppose, with 
Anthony Leverett. Why, I think it is high time he 
came home.” 

Chilian sighed. “ I am afraid — though I cannot see 
why we should fear so much to enter the other portal, 
since it is the destiny of all, and we believe in a better 
world. He was hopelessly ill when he wrote and was 
winding up some business matters. He is a brave man 
to meet death so composedly. The only pang is part- 
ing from his child.” 

“ Oh, his little girl ! Let me see — she must be eight 
or nine years old. What will become of her ? ” 

“ He makes me executor and guardian of the child. 
She was to start three weeks after his letter with Cap- 
tain Corwin in the Flying Star . That will be due, if it 
meets with no mishap, from the middle to the last of 
April.” 

“ But she doesn’t come alone! ” ejaculated Elizabeth 
in surprise. 

“ Yes. He wishes to be buried there beside his wife. 


1 6 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

And he does not want her to have the remembrance of 
his death. So he sends her with the woman who has 
been her nurse and maid the last three years, an 
Englishwoman. ,, 

“ Of all things ! I wonder what will come next ! 
We seem in the line of surprises. And it’s queer they 
should happen together. A little girl! Chilian, do 
you like it? Why, it will fairly turn the house upside 
down ! ” 

There was an accent of protest in Elizabeth’s tone, 
showing plainly her unwillingness to accept the 
situation. 

“ One little girl can’t move much furniture about ; ” 
with a sound of humor in his voice. 

“ Oh, you know what I mean — not actually dragging 
sofas and tables about, but she will chairs, as you’ll 
see. And lots of other things. Look at the Rendall 
children. The house always looks as if it had been 
stirred up with the pudding-stick, and Sally Rendall 
spends good half her time looking for things they have 
carted off. Tom and Anstice were digging up the path 
the day we called, and what do you suppose they had ! 
The tablespoons. And I’ll venture to say they were 
left out of doors.” 

“ There are so many of them,” Chilian said, as if in 
apology. 

“ And I don’t see how we can keep this child away 
from them. It isn’t as if they were low-down people. 
Sally’s father having been a major in the war, and the 


TWO LETTERS 


*7 

Rendalls are good stock. Let me see — what’s her 
name? Her mother was called Letty.” 

“ Cynthia. She was named for my mother.” Chil- 
ian’s voice had a reverent softness in it. 

“ I always thought it a pretty name,” said Eunice. 

“ And I’ve heard people call it ‘ Cyn.’ I do abomi- 
nate nicknames.” 

Elizabeth uttered this with a good deal of vigor. 
Then she remembered she quite liked Bessy. 

No one spoke for some moments. Chilian thought 
of the sister, whose brief married life had ended in 
her pretty home at Providence, and how she looked 
in her coffin with her baby sheltered by one arm. The 
picture came before him vividly. 

Elizabeth liked cleanliness and order. It was nat- 
ural after a long practice in it. Chilian’s particular 
ways suited her. Year after year had settled them — 
perhaps she had settled him more definitely, as he 
liked the way. Eunice was thinking of the little girl 
who had neither father or mother. She had some 
unfulfilled dreams. In her youth there had been a 
lover, and a wedding planned when he came home 
from his voyage. She had begun to “ lay by ” for 
housekeeping. And there were some pretty garments 
in the trunk upstairs, packed away with other articles. 
The lover was lost at sea, as befell many another New 
England coast woman. 

She had hoped against hope for several years — 
men were sometimes restored as by a miracle — but he 


18 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

never came. So she sometimes dreamed of what 
might have been, of home and children, and it kept her 
heart tender. Anthony’s little girl would make a sight 
of trouble, she could see that, but a little girl about 
would be a great pleasure — to her at least. She 
glanced furtively at Elizabeth, then at Chilian. She 
could not comfort either of them with this sudden 
glow and warmth that thrilled through her veins. 

“ Well, we will be through with house-cleaning be- 
fore she comes,” said the practical and particular 
housewife. Chilian simply sighed. It was the usual 
spring ordeal, and did end. But who could predict the 
ending of the other? 


CHAPTER II 


THE LITTLE GIRL 

Down at the wharf there was much bustle and stir. 
Vessels were lading for various home ports, fishing 
craft were going out on their ventures, even a whaler 
had just fitted up for a long cruise, and the young 
as well as middle-aged sailors were shouting out 
farewells. White and black men were running to 
and fro, laughing, chaffing, and swearing at each 
other. 

There lay the East Indiaman, with her foreign flag 
as well as that of her country. She had come in about 
midnight and at early dawn preliminaries had begun. 
Captain Corwin had been ashore a time or two, looking 
up and down amid the motley throng, and now he 
touched his hat and nodded to Chilian Leverett, who 
picked his way over to him. 

“ We are somewhat late,” he began apologetically. 
“ A little due to rough weather, but one can never fix 
an exact date.” 

“ All is well, I hope ; ” in an anxious tone. 

“ Yes ; the child proved a good sailor and was much 
interested in everything. I was afraid she would take 


19 


JO A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

it hard. But she is counting on her father’s coming. 
I don’t know how you will ever console her when she 
learns the truth.” 

“ And he ” Chilian looked intently into the cap- 

tain’s eyes. 

“ I suppose the end has come before this. They 
thought he might last a month when we left. It’s sad 
enough. He should have lived to be ninety. But 
matters went well with him, and he has been an hon- 
est, kindly, upright man with a large heart. I’ve lost 
my best friend and adviser.” 

The captain drew his rough coat-sleeve across his 
face and looked past Chilian, winking hard. 

“ There’s a sight of business when we come to that, 
Mr. Leverett, but now — will you go on board? The 
maid is a most excellent and sensible person. They 
are in the cabin.” 

“ Yes,” he answered and followed with a curious 
throb at his heart — pity for the orphaned child and a 
sense of responsibility he was conscious that he 
accepted unwillingly, yet he would do his duty to the 
uttermost. 

Already some officials were on hand, for at this 
period Salem was really a notable port. Chilian passed 
them with a bow, followed the captain down the gang- 
plank, stared a little at the foreign deck-hands in their 
odd habiliments, stepped over boxes and bales in can- 
vas and matting full of Oriental fragrance that from 
the closeness was almost stifling, coming from the 


THE LITTLE GIRL 


21 


clear air. Then he was ushered into the cabin, that 
was replete with Orientalism as well. 

A rather tall woman rose to meet him. 

“ This is Mistress Rachel Winn, who has mothered 
the little girl for several years, Mr. Leverett, her 
relative and guardian, and — Cynthia ” 

The child threw herself down on the couch. 

“ I want to go back home. I want to see my father, 
and Aymeer, and Babo, and Nalla. I can’t stay here.” 

“ But perhaps your father will bring them when he 
comes. Don’t you remember he told you he lived here 
when he was a little boy, and what nice times he had 
with the cousin he loved? And the cousin is here to 
bid you welcome. Come and speak to him. We can- 
not go back at once, the ship has to unload her cargo 
and take in ever so many other things. See, here is 
Cousin Leverett.” 

She sat up, made a forward movement as if she 
would rise, but simply stared. 

“ Yes, I am Cousin Leverett.” He began advancing 
and held out his hand. 

“ And very glad to see such an excellent traveller 
as you have been,” said the captain. “ And such a 
nice little girl. You are an American girl ; you know 
your father told you that. And this is your native 
town. Cousin Leverett remembers you when you 
were very little.” 

“ But I don’t remember you taking no notice of 
the proffered hand. 


22 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Then you must get acquainted with me. And you 
must tell me about your life and your father, whom 
I have not seen in a long, long time. Let us shake 
hands.” 

She held out hers then and raised herself to her 
feet. 

“ Oh, how soft your hands are,” she cried, “ just 
like Nalla’s. But they are very white. Nalla’s were 
brown.” 

“And who was Nalla?” 

“ She used to come and play with me and make 
chains out of shells, and make bracelets and anklets, 
and dance. And she used to go to the Sahibs’ house 
and dance with snakes. I’m afraid of them. Are 
you?” 

“ Indeed I am, of the large ones,” he said at a 
venture. 

He fancied that he felt a gentle pressure of sympa- 
thetic approval. She glanced up for an instant and her 
eyes transfixed him. They were a deep wonderful 
blue, almost black at the pupil, then raying off a little 
lighter. It made him think of a star in the winter 
midnight sky with a halo around it. The lashes were 
long and nearly black. Otherwise she had little claim 
to beauty just then. Her complexion had a tawny hue 
made by sun and wind, her hair was light, but it had 
a peculiar sunburned tint, though it was fine and 
abundant and hung in loose curls about her shoulders. 
Her nose was the only Leverett feature — it was 


THE LITTLE GIRL 


23 


straight, rather small, and had the flexibility that be- 
trayed passing emotions. The Leverett lips were thin, 
hers were full in the middle, giving a certain round- 
ness to the mouth. 

“ Are there any where you live ? ” hesitatingly. 

“Any?” Then he recalled the subject they had 
touched upon. “ Oh, no ; you seldom see them, and 
they are mostly harmless.” 

“ Have you any little girls in your house ? ” 

“ No, I am sorry to say.” 

“ There were two little English girls on shipboard at 
first. They went on board another vessel after a while. 
I liked them very much. They knew a great many 
things about countries. I can read, but I don’t a great 
deal. Sometimes father would tell me about America. 
There are a great many countries in it, and once they 
had a big war. They had wars, too, in India. Why 
must people kill each other ? ” 

“ There seem to be reasons. A little girl could not 
understand them all, I think ; ” and how could he ex- 
plain them? 

“ Oh, there is Captain Corwin ! ” She flew across 
the cabin with outstretched arms, which she clasped 
about him. 

“Well, have you been getting acquainted with — 
he will be your uncle, I suppose. What title are you 
going to take with the child, Mr. Leverett ? ” 

Chilian Leverett colored, without a cause he thought, 
and it annoyed him. 


24 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Are you going back to India to-day ? ” She was 
not interested in Chilian Leverett’s answer. 

Captain Corwin laughed heartily and patted her 
shoulder. 

“ Not to-day, nor even next week. The cargo will 
have to be taken off, little missy, and a new one 
stowed away. And I fancy there must be some re- 
pairs. I shall stay in town and run down to Marble- 
head. So you will see me quite often.” 

“And you are coming back again from India?” 

“ Oh, I hope so. More than once.” 

“ You will bring father then. It is such a long 
while to wait ; ” and she sighed. 

The men exchanged glances. 

“ I want to see him so much. Couldn’t I go back 
with you ? ” 

“ Don’t you remember I told you the other evening 
he might start before I reached India again? Don’t 
you want to go ashore and see Salem? Ask Miss 
Rachel to get you ready.” 

Rachel was beckoning to her. “ Let us go up on 
deck,” she said. “ It’s a strange country to me as 
well as to you. And I fancy the men want to talk.” 

She crossed the cabin slowly, not quite certain what 
she did desire most, except to see her father. 

“ You will have a rather sorry task. But Captain 
Ant’ny would have it so. He wanted to feel that she 
would be among friends. He had the fullest confi- 
dence that you could manage wisely. There is a great 


THE LITTLE GIRL 


*5 

box of papers, instructions, etc. You are appointed 
her guardian and trustee. I’ve brought boxes of stuff 
that the officers will have to go through. But the legal 
matters you may take with you. He tried to make it 
as easy as he could. She will have considerable of a 
fortune, and more to come when matters get settled on 
the other side. A cousin of the Bannings came out, — 
English are great hands to keep things in the family. 
But it is one of the biggest importing houses out there 
and it owes its success to the long and wise head of 
Captain Anthony. They want young Banning in it 
and the matter was about settled when we came away, 
but the payments will run over several years. All 
these papers will be sent to you. The Bannings are 
upright business men, and I think you need have no 
fear. But the child’s fortune is to be invested on this 
side of the water. Oh, you cannot realize what a trial 
it was to give up all thoughts of ending his days here.” 

Captain Corwin brushed some tears from his honest, 
weather-beaten face. 

“ But if he had started earlier ” 

“ He would not believe the trouble would prove 
fatal. And when it was declared there was so much 
to put in order. Then he could not bear to think of 
leaving his wife alone there, though it’s only the shell 
after all, and, if we believe the Good Book, we shall 
see the real part over there that was so much to us. 
But he could not explain the parting to the child, 
though death is such a common thing out there. Yet 


26 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

it is hard to believe our own can die. We are never 
ready for that. How you will manage ” 

The customs officers had come. Captain Corwin 
went out to meet them. Chilian Leverett dropped 
into the well-worn leather-covered chair that had been 
fine in its day. A heavy burthen had been laid upon 
him. He was not fond of business. Cousin Giles 
might be of some assistance ; he grasped at the thought 
as if he had been a drowning man and this the 
straw. And the child, somehow, was different from 
the average child, he felt; though he was not certain 
what the average child would unfold day after day. 
What would Elizabeth think? Eunice he could count 
on. Though she yielded on many points in that tacit 
sort of way, she was by no means an echo of her sister. 

The three men entered the cabin. Chilian was no 
stranger to the officials, who greeted him cordially 
and who sympathized with Captain Anthony Lev- 
erett’s untimely ending, as he was hardly past middle 
life. 

“ Why, it will be quite a change to have a child in 
your household,” said Josiah Ward. “ But if she is 
like mine, I advise you not to give her the run of your 
study. But there are two ladies to look after her ; ” 
and he smiled. 

It was surmised that Mr. Ward, a widower of two 
years' standing, had glanced more than once in the 
direction of Miss Eunice Leverett. 

Rachel came back at this juncture. The little girl 


THE LITTLE GIRL 


27 


had an accession of shyness and would only nod to the 
strangers. Then they made ready to leave the vessel. 
Chilian took his japanned case of important papers; 
the rest of the luggage would be sent after inspection. 

A primitive street it was in those days, and the fine 
wharves of the present were rather rude if busy places. 
Over beyond they could see the river, — South River, 
— and that was alive with various small craft. 

“ It seems almost like home,” said Rachel Winn, 
pausing to take a survey. “ You do not find this rural 
aspect in India.” 

“How long were you there?” asked Chilian. 

“ Seven years. I went out with my brother, who 
had just married my dearest friend. He died the third 
year, and she soon after married a military man. 
Then I took charge of a little lame boy and was mostly 
up in the mountains until he was sent to England, 
when Captain Leverett’s hospitable doors opened to 
me. Believe me, I was sorry to leave him at this crisis. 
Yet it was his wish ; ” and she glanced at Cynthia. 

“ Why did we come away ? ” demanded the child 
passionately. “ Oh, Rachel, are you sure father will 
come? It takes so long, so long;” and there were 
tears in her voice. 

“ Here we are ! ” exclaimed Chilian. 

There was a white picket fence across the sort of 
courtyard that had a broad paved path leading up 
to the front door, bordered by shrubs that would pres- 
ently be in bloom, and spaces between for smaller 


28 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


plants. This was the delight of Eunice’s heart. A 
square but rather ornate porch, with fluted columns, 
supporting the outer edge of the roof, and an elabo- 
rately carved hall-door with a fanlight overhead. The 
stoop stood up some five steps, and at the sides there 
were benches for out-of-doors comfort on summer 
nights. A brass knocker, with a lion’s head, an- 
nounced visitors. Chilian, however, let himself in with 
his latchkey. But both sisters met the party in the 
hall. 

“ And this is Anthony’s little girl ! ” said Elizabeth. 
“ Child, let me look at you ” 

But the child had a perverse fit at that moment and 
turned away her head, to the elder’s surprise and al- 
most displeasure. 

“ This is Miss Winn,” interrupted Chilian. “ My 
household guardians and cousins, Miss Elizabeth and 
Miss Eunice Leverett. I dare say our guests feel 
strange to be on land, after such a long journey.” 

“ It seems almost incredible that one can stand it, 
but we see them starting every few days for distant 
ports. My farthest journey has been to Providence; 
but, land alive ! you don’t know where that is, and it’s 
no great distance. Will you not come and have a cup 
of tea or coffee?” 

“ Thank you. We had breakfast not long ago, it 
seems.” 

“ Let me take you to your room,” said Eunice. 
<c And I hope you will soon feel at home with us. 


THE LITTLE GIRL 


29 


We are quiet people, but we shall endeavor to make 
you comfortable. Cynthia, will you not shake hands 
with me ? ” 

The soft, rather pleading voice attracted the child. 
She glanced up shyly and then held out a tiny hand 
hesitatingly. 

“ She is rather backward at first,” explained Rachel, 
who followed the hostess up the broad stairway. 

One of the guest-chambers had been set aside for 
their use after much discussion as to whether one or 
two would be needed. A smaller one opened into 
this, and a large closet was at the side. 

“ You can take off your things — I suppose your 
boxes, or whatever you have, will be here presently. 
The bureau is empty and this chest of drawers. We 
are rather old-fashioned people, and the house is the 
same as it was in the time of Chilian’s father. The 
captain made one visit here, when the little girl was 
about four. It must have been hard for him to lose 
his wife in a strange country like that. I suppose there 
are not many Americans ? ” 

“No; there are numbers of Englishwomen, wives of 
soldiers and traders, though I think most of them long 
to get home. They do not seem to take root easily.” 

“ I shouldn’t think they would, in that idolatrous 
country. The accounts of heathendom are appalling. 
And that car of Juggernaut, and drowning their poor 
little babies ! They do not seem to make much of girl 
children. ,, 


30 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Indeed, they do not, only as in some families they 
are wanted for wives. But the devotion of mothers 
to their sons is wonderful.” 

Rachel had laid aside a silk coat that filled Eunice 
with a sort of wonder, being brocaded with beautiful 
leaves and roses that seemed as if they must have been 
worked by hand, they stood out so clearly. The child 
appeared fantastically attired to her plainer eyes, and 
her slim arms were weighted with bracelets. In her 
dainty ears were some splendid sapphires. 

“ I do hope you will soon feel at home,” Eunice 
said from a full heart, if there was a rather awkward 
feeling about it. Yet she liked Miss Winn’s face. It 
had a kindly and intelligent aspect and was medium in 
all respects. The social lines in the town, indeed in all 
the Eastern towns, were not sharply defined as to mis- 
tress and maid. True, many households preferred 
black servants; in not a few some elderly relative 
looked after the household, or a bound-out girl was 
trained in industrious ways. 

There had been some discussion as to what sphere 
this Miss Winn would occupy. If she was simply the 
attendant on an over-indulged child, an uneducated 
person, as many of the English maids were who came 
over to better their conditions or get husbands, it 
might be rather awkward. But the woman was cer- 
tainly well-bred and used her English in a correct 
manner. 

“ Perhaps you will get to feeling more at home if 


THE LITTLE GIRL 


3 * 


you come down to the sitting-room, since there is 
nothing to unpack ; ” with a faint smile. 

Cynthia had been looking out of the window. 
“ How queer it all is ! ” she said. “ I think I do not 
quite like it. And how funny one feels. I want to go 
this way ; ” and she swayed from side to side. 

“ The motion of the vessel/’ interposed Rachel. “ I 
have heard it took days to get over it.” 

Meanwhile, downstairs Elizabeth had studied her 
Cousin Chilian. 

“ The child is not at all pretty,” she began rather 
sharply. “ And her mother was considered a beautiful 
young woman, I believe.” 

“Yes; but a long voyage and shipboard living may 
not be conducive to the development of beauty. And 
children seldom are at that age.” 

“ The Goodell children are pretty, I am sure, with 
their fine complexions. And the Bates girls. She has 
a furtive sort of look. Oh, I hope she isn’t deceitful 
and untrue. Those heathen nations, I believe, are 
given largely to falsehood, and she has lived among 
them so long without any mother’s care. It seems 
as if a pretty girl like Alletta Orne might have found 
some one at home to marry and reared her child in a 
Christian land.” 

“ Do not let us begin by borrowing trouble. It 
always comes fast enough.” 

“ And I can foresee that we shall have plenty of it. 
Well, I suppose it must be endured. There ! my bread 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


3 * 

is light enough to go in the oven— running over, likely 
as not.” 

So, when they came downstairs, Miss Elizabeth was 
in the kitchen, immersed in her baking interest. 

A large gray cat lay curled up on a cushion. Cyn- 
thia went straight over to it, but it glanced at her with 
wild eyes, jumped down, and disappeared through the 
doorway. 

“ Oh ! ” she exclaimed in accents of disappointment, 
glancing up at Chilian. 

“ Pussy is not used to children. He always runs 
away from them. But I think he will like you when 
he gets acquainted.” 

She turned to the window with a swelling heart. It 
seemed so cold and strange. It was better on ship- 
board, she thought. She had come to know the sailors 
quite well and Missy had grown to be a great favorite 
with them. There was always something cheerful 
going on. They sang songs in their loud clear voices, 
or whistled merry tunes. They danced as well. She 
was quite used to the dancing-girls at Calcutta, and 
when they were at Hong Kong or other ports. But 
the Indian girls pleased her best. 

The sailors seemed always full of fun, even in the 
worst of times. During some fearful storms she was 
safely housed in the cabin, and it amused her to see the 
things pitch and roll as far as their chains would allow 
them. Sometimes, too, they had to hold the food in 
their hands, but she never knew the danger of the 


THE LITTLE GIRL 


33 

worst storms. Rachel would not admit that she was 
afraid, and the captain said, “ Yes, we’re having a stiff 
blow, but the Flying Star has weathered many a gale 
before.” And here it was so very quiet. It looked 
dreary outside, with the leafless trees. She liked the 
toss and tumult of the waves with their snowy, jew- 
elled crests, and the clouds scudding along the sky, 
which she imagined was another sea full of ships. 
Often they went in port and there was nothing left but 
the blue sky above — a great hollow vault. And when 
the sun shone the real sea and ocean was in flames of 
such splendid colors. There was no end of curious 
people at ports where they stopped for supplies, there 
was always something strange, even when they were 
days alone on the water. For the sunset and sunrise 
were never twice alike. Then the moon from its tiny 
crescent to the great round globe that illumined the 
world with her fairy richness and scattered jewels on 
every crested wave. She had watched it turn the other 
way and grow smaller and smaller until you saw it 
vaguely in the morning. 

She was so interested in the stories they told about 
it, the signs and wonders they ascribed to it. 

“ And was it ever a real world like that we have left 
behind? ” she asked of the captain. “ Were there peo- 
ple in it? And land, and rivers, and growing things, 
and flowers ? ” and her wondering eyes grew larger. 

“ No one can tell now. Some astronomers believe 
it a burned-out world and the things we take for a 


34 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


man/’ laughing, “ and the cow ready to jump off, are 
remnants of roads, and forests, and mountains.” 

“ You can see the man in the moon,” she returned 
decisively. “ Sometimes he laughs. And the cow has 
great horns. I should be afraid of them if I met such 
a cow. Ours are so small and tame.” 

“You will see large ones in Salem. But I think, 
for the most part, they are gentle.” 

She never wearied talking over the strange things. 
And so she came to have her head filled with wonder- 
ful lore that indeed cropped out now and then all her 
life long until she felt as if she had really been in 
fairyland. 

It seemed stranger here than on shipboard. The 
others were going through the ceremony of getting 
acquainted. Rachel Winn’s voice had a soft sound, 
with an almost foreign accent. Eunice’s, though 
low-pitched, had a clear resonance. Now and then 
Chilian Leverett made a comment, or asked a ques- 
tion, but she was not heeding them. Her heart and 
mind had wandered back to her father and that won- 
derful land where nothing ever seemed bleak, though 
in long hot droughts it was arid. But there were al- 
ways temples, and palaces, and picturesque huts, and 
women and children in gay attire, old men kneeling 
somewhere, praying but keeping a sharp lookout for 
alms. 

Chilian Leverett had been watching the small face 
and wondering at the changes passing over it. Now 


THE LITTLE GIRL 


35 

he saw some tears slowly coursing down the pale 
cheeks, and his heart was moved with infinite pity. 

Suddenly a robin alighted on the limb of a tree and 
began picking at the buds. Then he held his head up 
straight, swelled out his brownish red breast, and 
poured forth such a volume of melody that the effort 
fairly made him dance with joy. Spring had surely 
come ! It was the time of love and joy, and all things 
made over new. 

She turned a trifle. Her face was transfigured with 
delight. Her eyes shone, though the tears were still 
wet on her cheek. 


CHAPTER III 


A STRANGER, YET AT HOME 

Rachel Winn settled herself to the new order of 
things more readily than the Leveretts. Or rather 
she seemed to take the lead in arrangements for her- 
self and her charge. She was after all a sort of nurse 
and waiting-maid, though she had a fine dignity about 
it that even Elizabeth could not gainsay. She was to 
be one of the family, there could be no objection to 
that in the simple New England living. Though it 
was true, times were changing greatly since the days 
of war and privation, and perhaps the mingling of 
people from other states, the growing responsibility 
of being part of a great commonwealth. Servants 
were being relegated to a different position. Boston 
in a certain fashion set the pace, though Salem held 
up her head proudly. Were not her seaports the busy 
mart of the Eastern shore? Stores of finery, silks 
and laces, and marvellous Indian embroidery went 
down to Boston and the houses were enriched with 
choice china that in the next hundred years was 
to be handed down as heirlooms. Fine houses were 
being built, choice woods came from southern ports 
by vessels that believed they could find fortunes nearer 
36 


A STRANGER, YET AT HOME 


37 


home than China or India. But they could grow no 
spices, or coffees, or teas, and they must come from 
the Orient. No looms could turn out such exquisite 
fabrics as yet, though housewives were to be proud of 
their home-made drapery for a generation or two. 

Chilian spent a large part of that first night in- 
specting his box of papers. There was a journal-like 
letter in which Anthony Leverett had jotted down 
many things he hardly dared say in his letter; indeed, 
there was not sufficient space. As soon as he had 
learned the serious nature of his disease, he had begun 
to put his house in order and consider the future wel- 
fare of his child. Some lines touched Chilian deeply, 
the trust and dependence he was not at all sure he 
could fulfil, but he felt he must rouse himself to the 
earnest endeavor. The father had a passionate love 
for his child, he was making a fortune for her, count- 
ing the years when he should return and have a home 
of his own, when Cynthia would grow up and marry 
and there would be grandchildren to climb his knees. 
India was no place for a woman child to grow up in, 
there were no chances for education or accomplish- 
ment, and next to no society. After all there was not, 
and never would be, such a country as the new world 
that had struggled so long and bravely for her inde- 
pendence, and now had only to go on developing her 
grand theories. Crowned heads might look on doubt- 
ingly, but the foundation had been laid in justice and 
truth and equality of right. It quite thrilled him that 


38 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

this man, amassing money in a far-away land, could see 
so clearly and have no doubts about its future great- 
ness. 

To Captain Corwin, his good, trusty friend, he had 
willed half the value of the Flying Star . The money 
from his part was to be invested, as the payments came 
in, in real estate in Salem, which was to be the shipping 
mart of the New England coast, at least, and run a 
race with New York, he thought. So with the sta- 
tions at Calcutta and Hong Kong in the hands of the 
Bannings. And there were treasures that would an- 
swer for a wedding dowry when the time came. If 
possible, he would like Rachel Winn retained ; he had 
the highest confidence in her, and she had no relatives 
to call her back to England. He had given her much 
of the family history, and described the town and the 
people, so that it would not seem so new and strange 
to her. 

He was not asking all this as a favor. Chilian was 
touched by the provision made for himself, which it 
would be quite impossible to decline, he saw. True it 
would break in upon his leisurely, student life, yet he 
felt he could not in honor refuse to accept the trust. 

Rachel Winn studied the arrangements of the rooms 
at their disposal. Her young mistress was not a child 
taken out of benevolence or relationship. She must 
have her standing from the very beginning, and she 
fancied Elizabeth was inclined to consider her a sort 
of interloper. 


A STRANGER, YET AT HOME 


39 

“ If it makes no difference, I will take the small 
room,” she announced to her. “ There are some pieces 
of furniture on the vessel that Captain Leverett par- 
ticularly wished her to keep, and as she grows older 

she will cherish them ” 

“ That great room for such a child ! ” In her 
amazement, Elizabeth spoke without thought. She 
was not used to seeing children set in the very fore- 
front. In her day, indeed, yet in some families the large 
open garret was considered the place for children. 

“ You see, she was used to it at home — over there, 
I mean ; ” with a nod of the head. “ Her father's 
room was one side, mine on the other. Of course, 
in a way I shall share it with her. I will keep it in 
order and look after her clothes, and sew for her. But 
I prefer the smaller one.” 

Elizabeth was aghast. One of the best spare cham- 
bers, with the furnishings that had come from England 
a hundred years before. On the other side she and 
Eunice shared a plainly appointed room with some of 
their very own belongings. There was still another, 
but the closet was small. She had asked Chilian 
where they should be placed and he had chosen this. 

It was his house, of course 

Whether it would have ended in a discussion could 
not to be told, for at that moment a dray drove up 
with some boxes and a piece of furniture so wrapped 
and protected that it was quite impossible to guess at 
its name. 


40 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


Chilian came out and ran lightly down the stairs; 
and then called Elizabeth. 

“ Where had the boxes better go ? They will have 
to be unpacked, I suppose ; ” helplessly. 

“ There are more to come, ,, announced the man. 
“ Enough to set up housekeeping, if the right sort of 
things are in them ; ” and he gave a short laugh. 

Miss Winn came downstairs. “ Isn’t there a garret 
to the house ? ” she asked, looking from one to the 
other. “ I packed them up, but I can hardly tell ” 

“ Yes; we could store half the vessel’s contents in it. 
Well, not exactly that. A ship’s hold is a capacious 
place. Yes, the boxes might go there. Have you any 
idea what this is ? ” 

“A sort of desk and bookcase. A very handsome 
thing the captain set great store by.” 

The men shouldered the boxes and Elizabeth con- 
voyed them. Silas was spading up the garden and 
came at the call. 

It was a work of some labor to get the article out 
of its secure casings. It disclosed a very handsome 
piece of furniture in the escritoire style, carved and 
inlaid not only with beautiful woods, but much silver. 
Chilian surveyed it with admiration. 

“ That must stand in the parlor,” he decided. “ But 
some one must come and help. I’m afraid I am not 
sufficiently robust. Silas, see if you can’t find the Up- 
hams’ man. He was working there a short time ago.” 

“ If there’s more to come, it is hardly worth while 


A STRANGER, YET AT HOME 41 

to clear up,” began Elizabeth. “ I hope it will soon 
follow.” 

Chilian directed the two men, who found it still 
quite a burthen. Elizabeth opened the parlor shutter 
unwillingly, and the men set it in the middle of the 
floor. 

There were two large rooms held almost sacred by 
both sisters. They were separated by an archway, ap- 
parently upheld on each end by a fluted column. Both 
rooms had a wide chimney-piece, the mantel and its 
supports elaborately carved and painted whiter Two 
windows were in each end, draped with soft crimson 
curtains. The floor was polished, with a rug laid 
down in the centre. It was furnished in a manner that 
would have delighted a connoisseur, but Elizabeth did 
not admire the conglomeration. They were family 
relics and seemed to have little relation with one 
another, yet they were harmonious. There was a thin- 
legged spinnet, with a Latin legend running across the 
front of the cover, which was always down. The 
chairs were not made for lounging, that was plain; 
and the sofa, with its rolling ends and claw feet, had 
been polished until the haircloth looked like satin. A 
dead and gone Leverett bride had imported that from 
London. 

When the East Indian article had been consigned to 
an appropriate space, it looked as much at home as if 
it had lived there half a century. Then the parlor was 
shut up again, the mat in the hall shaken out, the front 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


42 

door bolted. Miss Winn had asked for a hammer and 
chisel that she might open one of the boxes. 

“ Take Silas. That is a man's work,” said Chilian. 

Cynthia was in the sitting-room, where it was still 
chilly enough to have a fire. Eunice was knotting 
fringe for a bedspread, and it interested the child won- 
derfully. She was not a little shocked to find a child 
of nine knew nothing about sewing, had never hemmed 
ruffles, nor done overseam, or knit, or it seemed any- 
thing useful. 

“ Why, when I was a little girl of your age I could 
spin in the little wheel.” 

“ What did you spin ? ” 

“Why, thread, of course, linen thread made from 
flax.” 

“ Were you a truly little girl? ” in surprise. 

“ Why, child, don't you know anything ? ” Then 
Miss Eunice laughed softly and patted the small 
shoulder, looking kindly into the wondering eyes. 
There was no hurt in her tone and the words rather 
amused. 

“ I know a great many things. I can read some 
Latin, and I know about Greece and its splendid 
heroes who conquered a good deal of the world. 
There was Alexander the Great and Philip of Mace- 
don. And Tamerlane, who conquered nearly all Asia. 
And — and Confucius, the great man of China, who 
was a wise philosopher, and wrote a bible ” 

“ Oh, no ; not a bible ! ” interrupted Miss Eunice, 


A STRANGER, YET AT HOME 


43 


horrified. “ There is only one Bible, my dear, and 
that is the Word of God.” 

“ But the other is the bible of the Chinese, and some 
of them believe Confucius was a god.” 

“ That is quite impossible, my dear ; ” in a rather 
decisive, but still gentle tone. 

“ And there is Brahma, and Vishnu, and there are 
ever so many gods in India. The people pray to them. 
And temples. When they want anything very much, 
they go and pray for it. There was a woman whose 
little son was very ill, and if he lived he was going to 
be a great prince, or something, and she gathered up 
her precious stones and her necklace and took them to 
the temple for the god. Father sent an English doc- 
tor, but they wouldn’t let him see the little boy. He 
was so pretty, too. I used to see him in the court.” 

“ And did he live ? ” Miss Eunice asked, much in- 
terested. 

“ No ; he didn’t. And the father beat her for losing 
the jewels.” 

“ You see, those gods have no power.” 

“ Did you ever pray for anything you wanted very 
much ? ” 

Cynthia’s bright eyes studied the placid face before 
her. 

“ Yes,” the lips murmured faintly. 

“ And did you get it ? ” 

A flush stole over the puzzled countenance. 

“ My dear, God doesn’t see as we do. And He 


44 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


knows what is best for us, and gives us that. Maybe 
our prayer wasn’t right.” 

“ How can you tell when a prayer is right or 
wrong?” inquired the young theologian. 

“ Why, you have to leave that to God ; ” in a low, 
resigned tone. 

“ I didn’t want to come here. I wanted to stay with 
father. I didn’t know there was any one beside, and 
I do not believe any one will ever love me so well. But 
he promised to come when the business was all done. 
So I prayed to the God of father’s Bible, and I went 
to the temple with Nalla and put down a half-crown — 
it was all the money I had. But ” — her eyes filled 
with tears and her voice had a break in it — “ father 
begged so, and I came. But if Captain Corwin does 
not bring him next time I shall go back. I can’t live 
without him.” 

The mild blue eyes of Miss Eunice filled with tears 
as well. She was not sure this had been the wisest 
course. The absolute truth was always best. But she 
temporized also in a vague fashion. 

“ Yes ; you can tell then. And you may come to 
like us so well you may stay content.” 

“ Oh, if he comes ! Then it will be all right. And 
you think I ought to pray for that ? ” 

It was a cruel strait for Miss Eunice and staggered 
her faith. She was not to lead astray or harm “ one 
of the least of these.” But the child was a heathen 
with no real knowledge of the true God. Like a 


A STRANGER, YET AT HOME 


45 

vision almost. Miss Eunice looked back at her own 
childhood, and the awful, overshadowing power she 
believed was God, who wrote down every wicked 
thought and wrong deed, and would confront her 
with them at the Judgment Day. She prayed nightly, 
often in the night, when she woke up, and she was no 
surer of God’s love than this little heathen child. 

“ It is right to pray for the things we want, but to be 
resigned if God doesn’t see fit to give them to us.” 

“ Then the prayers are thrown away. And do you 
know just what God is?” 

“ My dear ! ” in a shocked tone, “ no one can tell. 
It is one of the mysteries to be revealed when we see 
Him as He truly is at the last day. A little girl can- 
not understand it. I do not, and I have sought the 
truth many years. Now I am trusting, because I 
feel assured He will do what is right. Tell me some- 
thing about your life with your father.” 

“ Oh, things were so different there. Houses, and 
there were always servants, so you didn’t ever need 
to fan yourself. Babo and Nalla were always about. 
Babo used to take me out in a chair that had curtains 
around and a big umbrella overhead. Sometimes 
Chandra went with him. And the streets were funny 
and crooked, and houses set anywhere in them. I 
liked going up in the mountains best, it wasn’t so hot. 
And the trees were splendid, and beautiful vines and 
flowers of all sorts. Mrs. Dallas went the last time. 
She had two girls and a big boy. I did not like him. 


46 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

He would pinch my arms and then say he didn’t. I 
liked the girls, one was larger than I. And we swung 
in the hammocks the vines made. Only I was afraid 
of the snakes, and there are so many everywhere. 
Alfred liked to kill them.” 

She shuddered a little and glanced about the room 
with dilated eyes. 

“ They come into your houses sometimes. Nalla 
used to catch them and sling them hard on the ground, 
and that stunned them. And we used to make wreaths 
of the beautiful flowers. Agnes Dallas knew so many 
stories about fairies, little people who come out at 
night, when the moon shines, and dance round in 
rings. They slip in houses, and the nice ones do some 
work, but the wicked ones sour the milk, and spoil the 
bread, and hide things. And, sometimes, they change 
children into a cat, or a rabbit, or something, and it 
is seven years before you can get your own shape 
again. Do you have them here? ” 

“ There is no such thing. That is all falsehood,” 
was the decisive comment. 

“ But — Agnes knew of their coming. And she had 
seen them dancing on the grass. But if you speak or 
go near them, they disappear.” 

Miss Winn came out to the sitting-room. 

“ Oh, you are here,” she said. “ I thought you were 
out of doors. You ought to take a run. What a 
wonderful garret you have upstairs, Miss Eunice. 
But I am afraid we shall fill it up sadly. There were 


A STRANGER, YET AT HOME 


47 


so many things to bring. I do not believe we shall 
find use for half of them. I want a few mouthfuls of 
fresh air. I suppose I can walk up the street without 
danger of getting lost if I turn square around when I 
return? Don’t you want to come, Cynthia?” 

Cynthia was ready. 

“ You had better wrap up warm. It gets chilly 
towards night.” 

“ It was a long stretch on shipboard. We stopped 
at several ports, however. But I am glad to be on 
solid ground. Come, child.” 

She had brought down a wrap and hood. Cynthia 
was glad of something new, though she liked Miss 
Eunice. 

They turned a rather rounding corner and went 
on to a sort of market-place, where sweepers were 
gathering up the debris after the day’s sales. They 
glanced about the city. Salem had made rapid strides 
since the grand declaration of peace, but at the end of 
the century it was far from the grandeur the next 
twenty years would give it. 

“ There are no palaces and no temples,” said Cyn- 
thia, rather complainingly. “ And how white all the 
people are. Do you suppose they have been ill ? ” 

“ Oh, no ; they have been housed up during the 
winter, and the climate is cold. And, you know, they 
are of a different race. This part, New England, was 
settled mostly from old England.” 

“ Are you going to like it, Rachel ? ” 


48 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

“ Why — I don’t quite know. You can’t tell at once 
about a strange place.” 

“ Miss Eunice is nice. But she has some queer 
ideas.” 

“ Or is it a little girl, named Cynthia Leverett, who 
has queer ideas that she has brought largely from a 
far-off country ? ” 

The child laughed. Then she saw some girls and 
boys playing tag in the street, laughing and squealing 
when they were caught, or when they narrowly missed. 
And some empty carts went rattling by, with now and 
then a stately coach, or a man on horseback, attired in 
the fashion of the times. The sun suddenly dropped 
down. 

“ We had better turn about,” declared Miss Winn. 
“ It will not do to be late for supper.” 

The walk had not been straight, but her gift of 
locality was good. They passed the market-place 
again, made the winding turn, and found the lighted 
lamps gave the house a cheerful aspect. 

Miss Eunice had put away her knotting and begun 
to lay the cloth when Elizabeth entered, her face 
clouded over. 

“ I’m sure I don’t see why Providence should send 
this avalanche upon us to destroy our peace and com- 
fort,” she began almost angrily. “ The Thatchers’ 
visit was pleasant, though that made a sight of clear- 
ing up afterward. And we had hardly gotten over 
that when this must happen. I was going to put that 


A STRANGER, YET AT HOME 


49 


white quilt in the frame, but the garret will be turned 
upside down for no one knows how long! Such a 
mess of stuff, and more coming. There’s enough in 
this house without any more being added to it.” 

“ But it was natural Captain Anthony should want 
his child to have something belonging to him, maybe 
her mother, too. And goodness knows there’s room 
enough in the garret. It isn’t half full with his traps, 
and there’s some of ours. And there’s the loft over 
the kitchen.” 

“ Well, we want some place to dry clothes in rainy 
weather. And when I sweep I want to move things 
about, not sweep just in front of them, and have the 
dust settle in rows behind. Chilian didn’t know what 
a lot there would be, though he might have looked it 
over on the ship. When it is all through, the house 
will need a thorough cleaning again. And what do 
you think, Eunice! She’s going to put the child in 
that big bed and she sleep in the little one! The best 
room in the house! I’m sorry they have it.” 

Eunice was roused a little. 

“ That doesn’t seem the proper thing. But maybe 
she thought — I do suppose the child has had the best 
of everything.” 

“ I don’t believe in pampering children. And I 
don’t altogether like the woman. I do wonder if we 
will have to keep her. A girl of nine is old enough 
to look after herself, and begin to keep her own 
clothes and her room in order.” 


5 ° 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ It’s been very different out in India. And I do 
suppose Anthony was over-indulgent, she having no 
mother to train her.” 

“ We’ll have our hands full, Eunice, when the tussle 
really begins.” 

“ Oh, I do not think she will be hard to manage. 
She seems rather shy ” 

“ Those eyes of hers ain’t so deep for nothing. She 
hasn’t the Leverett mouth, and those full lips are wil- 
ful and saucy, generally speaking. Letty Orne was 
a pretty girl, as I remember. Strange, now, when you 
come to think of it, that the child should have been 
born in this house. But she’ll never have any beauty 
to spare, that’s certain. For the land sakes, Eunice, 
look at the time and you dawdling over the table. 
I’m tired as a dog after a long race.” 

Elizabeth dropped into a chair. In her secret heart 
Eunice knew that when her sister was tired out she 
was fractious; she loved her too well to say cross 
words. 

“ Shall we have fish or cold meat ? ” she asked 
mildly. 

“ Oh, I don’t care ! Well, fish. There will be meat 
enough for to-morrow’s dinner if it isn’t meddled 
with.” 

The fish was salted down in the season, soaked a 
little, laid in spiced vinegar for a few hours, cut in 
thin slices, and was very appetizing. Eunice went 
about with no useless flutter, she stepped lightly and 


A STRANGER, YET AT HOME 51 

never made any clatter with dishes. The tea china, 
thin and lovely, the piles of white bread and brown, 
molasses gingerbread and frosted sugar cake, stewed 
dried fruit and rich preserves, made an inviting-look- 
ing table. Chilian came in and made himself neat, as 
usual, then the guests. 

Cynthia was very quiet. Twice Miss Winn an- 
swered a question for her. She scarcely ate anything. 
Then she said wearily: 

“ I am so tired and sleepy. Can’t I go to bed?” 


CHAPTER IV 


UNWELCOME 

Miss Winn and her charge went down to the ship the 
next morning with Chilian Leverett. Elizabeth in- 
spected the rooms. She was not meddlesome, nor 
over-curious generally, but with a feeling of possessor- 
ship and responsibility in the house, she wanted to 
know how far she could trust the newcomers. The 
beds were well made, but closets and drawers were 
rather awry. She did begrudge the best chamber, 
and wondered whether it would not be possible to 
change them about presently. True, they seldom had 
guests. 

Then a new load of boxes came, with two trunks, 
and several more pieces of furniture. The latter were 
left standing in the hall. The garret had been a sort 
of fetich with Elizabeth. There were dried herbs 
hanging to the rafters in their muslin bags, so as not 
to make a litter and mostly for the fragrance. There 
was not a cobweb anywhere. On one side of the slop- 
ing roof were ranged their own trunks and chests, two 
of cedar, in which woollen clothes and blankets passed 
the summer, securely hidden from moths. In one 
gable were miscellaneous household articles, a few 


52 


UNWELCOME 


53 


chairs good enough to be repaired, a more than 
century-old cherry table, spinning-wheels, a bedstead 
piled high with a feather bed, and numberless pillows, 
for Elizabeth thought it her duty to make a new pair 
every year, as they kept a flock of geese that spent 
their days in a small cove on South River. 

The interloper boxes could make a row down the 
cleared side. That left the centre, the highest part, 
clear for drying clothes, which probably would not be 
needed until winter. But careful Elizabeth planned 
ahead for every emergency. True, the emergency did 
not always fit the plans, but it gave her tense spirit a 
rest. 

The Salem air was fragrant, with all manner of 
sweet springtime odors — the ship was not. Things 
that had been stored in the hold came up with a certain 
old smell and a little mustiness. First, Cynthia held 
her nose and made a wry face. But it was delightful 
to run about and exchange greetings with the sailors, 
who seemed merry enough over their work. 

“ Well, missy,” said the captain, catching her in his 
arms as she ran, “ how do you like living on dry land ? 
You haven't lost your sea legs yet, that’s plain.” 

“ It’s very queer. There are just tiny leaves coming 
out on the trees, and a few curious white flowers, little 
bells, coming up in the garden, and crocus in pretty 
colors. But I don’t like it very much. Miss Eunice is 
nice and has such a soft voice. And the houses are so 
funny and shut up, and there are no servants about. 


54 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


nor any one praying on the corners and holding out a 
basin for rice; and no piles of fruit for sale.” 

“No; this isn’t the time of year for fruit;” and 
there was a funny twinkle in the captain’s eye. “ Just 
wait until August and September.” 

Cynthia considered. “ That is three and four 
months away. Father will be here then ; ” with a 
child’s confidence.” 

“And there are berries earlier, and cherries, and 
then some sugar pears. Oh, you will be feasted. And 
you’ll like Cousin Leverett, when you come to get ac- 
quainted with him. You will go to school, too, and 
know lots of little girls. You won’t want to go back 
to India.” 

“ Unless father shouldn’t come. Oh, he surely will, 
because, you see, I’m praying ever so many times a 
day.” 

“ That’s right ; ” with a cheerful nod. 

“ When are you going back ? ” 

“ In about a month, I calculate.” 

She sighed and looked out over the great stretch of 
waters. “ What is that long point down there ? ” she 
asked suddenly. 

“ That’s Salem Neck, and there is Winter Island. 
They are always building ships down there and turn 
out some mighty fine ones. And fishing; there’s a 
sight of cod, and haddock, and mackerel, and all the 
other fish in season. They salt them and take them 
half over the world. And there’s a rope-walk you’d 


UNWELCOME 


55 


enjoy seeing, leastways you would if you were a boy. 
And there are some stores. We have lots of goods 
consigned to the Merrits. Salem’s a big place, now I 
tell you!” 

“ Bigger than Calcutta?” 

“ Sho’ now ! Calcutta can’t hold a candle to it.” 

The captain’s cabin was being dismantled for re- 
pairs and cleaning. She glanced m it. How many 
days she had spent here ! Everything was in disorder, 
yet there was a certain home remembrance that 
touched the child’s heart, and brought tears to her 
eyes. 

“ Oh, are you here ? ” It was Chilian Leverett’s 
voice, and he held out his hand. She looked so bright 
now and there was a little color in her cheeks, an 
eager interest about her. He was afraid she was 
going to be a rather dull child. 

“Yes; it’s almost like home, you know ; only when 
we lived here it wasn’t so topsy-turvy.” 

“ Did you feel queer when you woke up this morn- 
ing ? ” thinking it his duty to smile. 

“ Oh, I didn’t know where I was. It seemed as if 
I was being smothered in something. And it didn’t toss 
and rock. Oh, there were some birds singing.” She 
laughed gleefully. “ Then I saw Rachel, and it came 
to me in little bits, but it seems such a long, long 
while since yesterday morning.” 

“ Where is Miss Winn? I want to see her a 


moment. 1 


5 6 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

“ She has been looking over some things as they 
came up from the hold/’ said the captain. “ Oh, here 
she is!” 

Chilian took her aside for a moment. It was neces- 
sary for him to go in to Boston and he wanted to 
make a few suggestions, so that any of Elizabeth’s 
strictures might not offend. He began to perceive the 
child and her attendant were not exactly welcome 
guests. 

“ How long do you suppose she will stay ? ” Eliza- 
beth had asked of him rather sharply. “ For, when we 
are once settled, I do not think there will be any real 
necessity for keeping Miss Winn.” 

She had been considering it at intervals through 
the night, and was impatient for what she called an 
understanding. 

Chilian had often given in to her on points that did 
not really affect him. He hated to bicker with any 
one, especially women. 

“ My dear Elizabeth,” he began, “ the child has been 
consigned to my charge until she comes of age. I 
should not have chosen the guardianship, but it seems 
there is no other relative who can attend to all matters 
as well. She is to be no dependent, only for whatever 
love we choose to give her. Anthony has made an 
ample allowance for her, indeed such a generous one 
that it irks me to accept it. If it makes too much 
work for you and Eunice, we will have some help. 
Miss Winn is to look after her, that was her father’s 


UNWELCOME 


57 

wish; so there will be no change. Of course, it alters 
our quiet mode of living, but perhaps we were getting 
in too much of a rut and needed some shaking up ; ” 
smiling gravely. “ Try and make it as comfortable 
for them as you can. There is plenty of room in the 
house for us all.” 

Then there was nothing before them but acceptance. 
In a way she had known it, but there was a vague idea 
seething in her mind that if the maid could be dis- 
missed, she and her sister could train the child in a 
better manner, and instil some Salem virtues in her 
that yet held a little of the old Puritanic leaven; like 
industry, economy, forethought. She still believed in 
the strait and narrow pathway. 

That Chilian should take the matter so philosophi- 
cally did surprise her. To him there seemed some- 
thing so pitiful in the hope held out to the little girl, 
yet after all could it have been managed any more 
wisely? She would not know what the acute pang 
of death was. And her longing would become less, 
there would be a vagueness in her sorrow that would 
help to heal it. This would be her home. He had 
been living all these years for himself, was it not time 
-that he espoused some other motive? That he began 
to be of real service? 

He finished his talk with Miss Winn. Cyn- 
thia was hopping over some coils of cable, and 
he watched her agile, graceful movements, half 
smiling. 


58 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Come and tell me good-bye,” he said, holding out 
his hand. “ I am going in to Boston.” 

“ In a vessel ? ” 

“ No ; though I suppose that would be possible. I 
am late for the stage, and must go on horseback.” 

“ Where is Boston ? ” 

“ Oh, some eighteen miles — rather southerly. It is 
a big city, and the capital.” 

“ When are you coming back ? ” with a daintily anx- 
ious air. 

“ Oh, by supper-time.” 

“Well;” nodding. 

“ What shall I bring you ? ” 

“ Nothing at all. We have twice too much now, 
Rachel says. Only — be sure to come back.” 

“ If I did not, what then? ” 

“If you did not come back, I should go to India 
with Captain Corwin. I like Miss Eunice a little, but 
your other lady doesn't want me,” she replied with a 
frankness that was amusing, it was so free from 
malice. 

“ Good-bye until to-night, then.” 

She put her hand in his. Then she reached up tip- 
toe. “ Kiss me,” she said. “ Father always did and 
he said, 4 Be a good girl.' ” 

“ Be a good girl.” Chilian kissed the soft red lips 
and then went his way. There was not much caressing 
in the restrained New England nature of that day, 
especially among those who had grown up with few, 


UNWELCOME 


59 

family ties. His mother had died while he was yet 
quite a boy. 

“ Let us go back now,” said Rachel presently. “ I 
believe I have found all our goods. Miss Leverett will 
be appalled.” 

The child repeated the word. “ What does it 

mean ? ” she asked. 

“ Astonished, surprised.” 

“ Why, they have a houseful of things in protest. 

“ Then there is the less room for ours.” 

“ But there is ever so much room in the garret.” 

“ I almost wish we were going to live by ourselves 
in a little house, like some we saw yesterday.” 

“ Who would cook the dinner and wash the 
dishes ? ” 

“ Oh, I could ; ” laughing. 

“ Only us two ? It would be lonesome.” 

“ We are not likely to.” 

“ Don’t go straight home. Let us find the market 
again. I didn’t half see it last night.” 

“ It wasn’t night exactly. Yes — we must learn to 
find our way about, for we cannot stay in all the time. 
This is Essex Street. Let us turn here.” 

The market was in its glory this morning. The 
stalls were ornamented with branches of evergreens, 
the floors sifted over with sawdust. There were vege- 
tables and meats, but no great variety. There was 
no sunny south, no swift train to send in delicious 
luxuries. The cold storage of that day was being 


6o 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


buried in pits and being brought out to light as occa- 
sion required. 

There were other stalls, with various household 
stores. Iron-holders, tin kettles, whiskbrooms, pins 
(which were quite a luxury), crockery ware even. 
Wagons had come in from country places and cus- 
tomers were thronging about them. 

The people interested Miss Winn, and the chaffer- 
ing, the beating down in prices, was quite amusing. 
Here a woman was measuring some cotton goods from 
her chin to the ends of her fingers ; here sat a cobbler 
doing odd jobs while some one waited. Altogether it 
was very entertaining, and it was dinner-time when 
they reached home. 

“ Mr. Leverett has gone to Boston,” announced 
Miss Leverett. “ We must have our dinner without 
him.” 

“ Yes, he was down on the ship,” said Miss Winn. 
“ Do you often go to Boston ? ” 

“ I am much too busy to be gadding about,” re- 
turned Elizabeth sharply; “ though we have con- 
nections there, and I once spent several years in the 
city.” 

“ I don't suppose it is at all like London. Eastern 
cities are so different — and dirty,” she added. 

“ Boston is very nice, quite a superior place, but we 
do not consider it much above Salem,” Miss Eliza- 
beth said, with an air. “We have nearly all of the East 
India trade. To be sure, there is Harvard at Cam- 


UNWELCOME 


61 


bridge, and that calls students and professors. Cousin 
Chilian is a graduate. He could have been an accepted 
professor if he had chosen.” 

Then the conversation languished. They were 
hardly through dinner when the next relay of goods 
arrived. 

“ Cynthia’s desk must go upstairs, I suppose. Her 
father had it made for her birthday. Will Silas un- 
pack again? There is a small cabinet of teakwood 
that is beautifully carved. If you could find room in 
the parlor for that. There were many other fine pieces 
that will no doubt be sold, and it seems a great pity.” 

Elizabeth acquiesced rather frigidly, adding, “ It is 
fortunate the house is large, but one seems to accumu- 
late a good deal through generations.” 

Cynthia went up in the garret with Miss Winn and 
was full of interest over the old Leverett treasures. 
Here was the cradle in which Leverett babies had been 
rocked, an old bit of mahogany nearly black with age. 

“ How funny ! ” cried Cynthia, springing into it, 
and making a clatter on the floor. 

“Don’t, dear! Miss Elizabeth may not like it,” 
said Miss Winn. 

“ As if I should hurt it ! ” indignantly. 

“ It is not ours.” 

“ But we sit on their chairs, and sleep in their beds, 
and eat at their table,” returned the child. “ Do you 
suppose they do not want us ? ” 

“Our coming is Mr. Leverett’s affair, and he is 


62 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

your guardian, so whatever home he provides is 
right.” 

“ Well, we can have a home of our own when 
father comes ? ” 

“ Oh, yes ; when he comes.” 

“ Well, then I shall not mind ; ” decisively. 

Still she peered about among the old things. There 
were some iron fire-dogs, a much-tarnished frame, 
with a cracked glass that cut her face in a grotesque 
fashion, old dishes and kitchen furniture past using, 
or that had been supplanted by a newer and better 
kind. 

“ Oh, dear ! this is an undertaking ! ” declared Miss 
Winn, with a sigh. “ I do not believe you will ever 
use half these things ; there are stuffs enough to dress 
a queen.” 

It was beginning to grow dusky before she was 
through, though the sky was overcast, and there would 
be no fine sunset. Indeed, the wind blew up stormily. 
Cynthia had been viewing the place from the windows 
in the four gables, though she had to stand on a box. 
There were South River and the Neck and the shipping 
— the men, hurrying to and fro, looking so much 
smaller that it puzzled Cynthia. And. there was North 
River winding about, and over beyond the great ocean 
she had crossed. There was old St. Peter’s Church, 
the new one was not built until long afterward, and 
smaller places of worship. There was the small begin- 
ning of things to be famous later on. 


UNWELCOME 


63 

The wind began to whistle about and it grew 
cool, so they were glad to go down to the cheer- 
ful sitting-room, where a fire was blazing on the 
hearth. 

“ We shall have a storm to-night,” said Miss Eu- 
nice, “our three days’ storm that usually makes its 
appearance about this time. Didn’t you ’most perish 
upstairs ? And what did you find to interest you ? ” 

Cynthia had brought a stool and sat close to Miss 
Eunice, leaning one arm on her knee. 

“ Oh, so many queer things. You don’t mind if I 
call them queer, do you ? ” 

“ Oh, no ; they are queer. And when we are dead 
and gone some one will call ours queer, no doubt. 
But we haven’t many. When father died we were 
on a farm just out of Marblehead. Things were 
mostly sold at a vendue, for the two boys were going 
in the army. That was back in ’78. Mother and we 
two girls went to her mother’s at Danvers. Eliza- 
beth took up sewing, but there were hard times, for 
the war stretched out so long, and it did seem as if the 
Colonies would never gain their cause. But they did. 
Brother Linus was killed, and later on I had a dear 
friend lost at sea. Mother died, and we were sort of 
scattered about till we came here. Cousin Chilian was 
very good to us. So you see we haven’t much to leave, 
but then we haven’t any descendant ; ” and she gave 
a soft little laugh. “ Elizabeth has mother’s gold 
comb, set with amethysts, and a brooch, and I have 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


64 

the string of gold beads and some rings. A cousin in 
London sent them to grandmother.” 

“Eunice, you might set the table,” said Elizabeth, 
rather sharply. “ I’m making some fritters. They 
will taste good this cold night.” 

“ Couldn’t I help ? ” asked Rachel. 

“ Oh, you must be tired enough without doing any 
more. It’s a good thing you have all your belongings 
housed. The garret doesn’t leak.” 

“ Yes, I am thankful. I really did not think there 
was so much.” 

There was a savory fragrance in the sitting-room. 
Chilian came in, looking weary with his long ride. 

“ It is almost wintry cold,” he said, holding his 
hands to the fire. “Have you had a nice day, little 
girl?” 

“ Yes ; ” glancing up with a smile. 

They did justice to Bessy’s nice supper. Chilian 
had seen Cousin Giles, who sent remembrances to 
them all, and was coming up some day to see Letty 
Orne’s little girl. Chilian found there was a good deal 
of business to do. For a while his days of leisure and 
ease would be over. 

Then he brought out a Boston paper and read them 
some of the news. Miss Eunice went on with her 
fringe. Elizabeth was knitting a sock for Chilian out 
of fine linen yarn, spun by herself, and she put pretty 
open-work stitches all up the instep. For imported 
articles were still dear, and there was a pride in the 


UNWELCOME 


65 

women to do all for themselves that they could. 
Cynthia leaned her head on Rachel’s lap and went 
asleep. 

“ Do hear that rain ! The storm has begun in good 
earnest.” 

It was rushing like a tramp of soldiers, flinging 
great sheets against the closed shutters, and the wind 
roared in the chimney like some prisoned spirit. 

“ Wake up, Cynthia, and say good-night.” 

Elizabeth watched the child. Her theory was that 
children should be put to bed early and not allowed 
to lie around on any one’s lap. There was always a 
tussle of wills when you roused them. She drew her- 
self up with a kind of severe mental bracing and 
awaited the result, glad Chilian was there. 

Rachel toyed with the hair, patted the soft flushed 
cheek, and took the hands in hers. 

“ Cynthia,” she said gently, “ Cynthia, dear, wake 
up.” 

The child roused, opened her eyes. “ I’m so tired,” 
she murmured. “ Will we never be done crossing the 
wide, wide ocean? And where is Salem?” 

“ We are there, dear, safe and housed from the 
storm. You have been asleep on my knee. Come to 
bed now. Say good-night.” 

She stood the little girl up on her feet and put one 
arm around her. 

It was against Elizabeth Leverett’s theories that any 
child should go off peaceably, with no snarling protest. 


66 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

Chilian raised his book a little, hoping in the depths 
of his soul there would be no scene. 

“ Say good-night/’ 

No child of Puritan training, with the fear of the 
rod before her eyes, could have done better. She 
said good-night in a very sleepy tone, and slipped 
her arm about Rachel’s waist as they left the room 
together. 

No one made any comment at first. Then Eunice 
said, in what she made a casual tone : 

“ She seems a very tractable child.” 

“You can’t tell by one instance. Children of that 
age are always self-willed. And allowing a child to 
lie around one’s lap, when she should have said her 
prayers and gone to bed at the proper hour, is a most 
reprehensible habit. And I don’t suppose she ever 
says a prayer.” 

Eunice thought of the daily prayers for her father’s 
safe journey. Would that be set down as a sort of 
idolatry ? 

Chilian picked up his papers; he had grown fas- 
tidious, and rarely left his belongings about to annoy 
Elizabeth. Eunice rolled up her work and dropped it 
in the bag that hung on the post of her chair, straight- 
ened up a few things, stood the logs in the corner and 
put up the wire fender, so there should be no danger 
of fire; while Elizabeth set all things straight in the 
kitchen. 

Cynthia meanwhile was undressed and mounted the 


UNWELCOME 67 

steps to the high bed. Then she flung her arms about 
Rachel’s neck. 

“ Oh, come and sleep in my bed to-night ! ” she 
cried pleadingly. “ It’s so big and lonesome, that I am 
afraid. I wish it was like your little bed. They were 
so cunning on the ship. I don’t like this one, where 
you have to go upstairs to get in it. Oh, do come ! ” 
And Elizabeth Leverett would have been shocked 
if she could have seen the child cuddled up in her at- 
tendant’s arms. Theoretically, she believed Holy Writ 
— “ He hath made of one blood all nations.” Prac- 
tically she made many exceptions. 


CHAPTER V 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 

The northeast storm was terrific. The wind lashed 
the ocean until it writhed and groaned and sent great 
billows up on the land. The trees bent to the fierce 
blasts ; many storms had toughened them and perhaps 
taught them the wisdom of yielding, since it must be 
break or bend. Silas sat in the barn mending tools and 
harness and clearing up generally; Elizabeth spent 
most of the first day clearing up the garret again, and 
looking with a grudging eye on the new accession of 
boxes, and sniffing up the queer smell disdainfully. 

“ One can’t have the windows open,” she rumi- 
nated, “ and the smell must go through the house. I 
don’t believe it will ever get out.” 

More than one family in Salem had stores from the 
Orient. Many of them liked the fragrance of sandal- 
wood and strange perfumes. “ God’s fresh air was 
good enough for her,” said Elizabeth. 

Eunice had finished her fringe and brought out 
some patchwork in the afternoon — a curious pattern, 
called basket-work. The basket was made of green 
chintz, with a small yellow figure here and there. It 
had a handle from side to side, neatly hemmed on a 
68 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 69 

white half square. The upper edge of the basket was 
cut in points and between each one was a bit of color 
to represent or suggest a possible bud of some kind. 
One had pink, different shades of red, and a bright 
yellow. She had seven blocks finished and they were 
in the bottom of the box. Eunice took them out for 
the little girl, who spread them on the floor. 

No one was thinking at that day of the mills that 
would dot New England, where cotton cloths, calicoes, 
and cambrics would be turned out by the bale. These 
things had to be imported and were costly. One could 
dye plain colors that were used for frocks and gowns, 
and some of the hand looms wove ginghams that were 
dyed in the thread beforehand. 

“It will take forty-two blocks,” said Miss Eunice. 
“ Six one way, seven the other.” 

“Then what are you going to do with it?” asked 
the child eagerly. 

“ Why, quilt it. Put some cotton between this and 
the lining, and sew them together with fine stitches.” 

“ And then ” 

“ Why” — Eunice wondered herself. There were 
chests of them piled away in the garret — Chilian’s 
mother’s, and those they had made to fill in the mo- 
ments when housework was finished. She had a quiet 
sense of humor, and she smiled. What were they lay- 
ing up these treasures for? Neither of them would be 
married, most of their relatives were well provided 
for. 


7 o 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Well, some one may like to have them ; ” after a 
pause. “ You must learn to sew.” 

“ Patchwork ? ” 

It was absurd to pile up any more. 

“ You see,” said the child, “ no one needed them 
over there;” inclining her head to the East. “You 
have a little bed and a pallet, and it is warm, so you 
do not need quilts. And the poor people and the 
servants have a mat they spread down anywhere 
and a blanket, but you see, they sleep with their 
clothes on.” 

Eunice looked rather horrified. 

“ But they change them ! They would — why, there 
would be soil and vermin.” 

“ They go to the river and bathe and wash them out. 
They sling them on the stones in a queer way. But 
some of them are very dirty and ragged. They are 
not like the English and us, and don’t wear many 
clothes. Sometimes they are wrapped up in a white 
sheet.” 

“ It is a very queer country. They are not civilized, 
or Christianized. I don’t know what will become of 
them in the end.” 

“ It’s their country and no one knows how old it is. 
China is the oldest country in the world.” 

“ But, my dear, there was the garden of Eden when 
God first created the world. Nothing could be older 
than that, you know. Two thousand years to the 
flood, and two thousand years to the coming of Christ, 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 71 

and some people think the world will end in another 
two thousand years.” 

“ I don’t see any sense in burning it up, when there 
are so many lovely things in it ; ” and Cynthia’s eyes 
took on a deep, inquiring expression. “ That was what 
the chaplain used to say. Father thought it would 
go on and on, getting wiser and greater, and the 
people learning to be better and making wonderful 
things.” 

“ My dear, what the Bible says must be true. And 
it will be burned up. You have a Bible?” 

“ The chaplain gave me a pretty prayer-book. It 
is upstairs.” 

“ We do not believe in prayer-books, dear.” The 
tone was soft, yet decided. “ We came over here, at 
least our forefathers did, that we might worship God 
according to the dictates of our conscience. We tried 
to leave the prayer-books and the bishops behind, but 
we couldn’t quite. You must have a Bible and read a 
chapter every day. Why, I had read it through once 
before I was as old as you.” 

Cynthia simply stared. Then, after a pause, she 
said : 

“ Did you sew patchwork, too? ” 

“ When I was eight I had finished a quilt. And I 
learned to knit. I knit my own stockings; I always 
have. And I braided rags for a mat. Mother sewed 
it together.” 

“ And your clothes — who made those ? ” 


72 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Well — mother made some. But a woman used to 
come round fall and spring and make for the girls 
and boys, though father bought his best suit. He had 
one when he was married; it was his freedom suit as 
well ” 

“ Why, was he a prisoner ? ” the child interrupted. 

“ Oh, no ; ” smiling a little. “ Boys had to be sub- 
ject to their fathers until they were twenty-one. Then 
they had a suit of clothes all the way through and 
their time, which meant they were at liberty to work 
for any one and ask wages. He had been courting 
mother and they were married soon after, so it was 
his wedding suit. He had outgrown it before he died, 
so he had to get a new one. Mother sold that to a 
neighbor that it just fitted.” 

“ Tell me some more about them.” Cynthia was 
fond of stories. And this was about real folks, not the 
fantastic legends she had heard so often. 

“ Well — he and mother worked, she had been living 
with a family. Girls did in those days, and were like 
daughters of the house. Father went to work there. 
They were married in the spring and in the fall he 
took a place on shares ; that is, he had half of every- 
thing, and they divided up the house. A year or so af- 
terward it was for sale, and he bought it, and we were 
all born there, and there was no change until he died. 
That was a sad thing for us. He’d been buying some 
more land, and the place wasn’t clear. Another man 
stood ready to buy it, and mother thought it best to 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 73 

sell. You see there was a good deal of trouble between 
us and England, who wanted to get all the money she 
could out of the Colonies, and wasn’t willing to send 
troops to protect us from the Indians, and we had to 
sell our produce and things to her, and presently the 
Colonies wouldn’t stand it any longer, and there was 
war. Some people were bitterly opposed to it, some 
favored it. Then we wouldn’t take the tea she insisted 
on our buying, and there was the Stamp Act. And 
Salem really made the first armed resistance. You 
must go out some nice day to North Bridge. The 
British troops marched up from Marblehead to seize 
some arms they heard were stored here. General 
Gage sent them. But the people had word, for a 
Major Pedrick rode up to give the alarm, and they hid 
them in a secure place. Colonel Leslie headed the 
British troops to make the search. But the people of 
Salem turned out strong and met the colonel and de- 
clared that he was marching on private property, not 
on the King’s highway, that the lane and the bridge 
were private property, where he had no right. You 
see, war had not been declared and the people had a 
right to defend their own. So they would not allow 
them to cross the river and make a search. But, 
finally, they agreed, if the draw over the river could be 
lowered and they allowed to march a few rods, they 
would withdraw. Of course, they saw nothing sus- 
picious and came back, keeping their word. Other- 
wise, I suppose, that would have been the first battle 


74 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


of the war. We were not living here then, but Cousin 
Chilian’s father lived in this very house.” 

“ And the arms were really there ! ” Cynthia drew 
a long breath. 

“ Oh, yes ! They were ships’ cannon going to be 
mounted for protection. Some day Cousin Chilian 
may take you over to the bridge and tell you all about 
it. There was a romance about a girl said to be in love 
with a British officer, but you are too young for such 
stories.” 

If she had not been, the entrance of Elizabeth and 
Miss Winn would have checked the garrulity of Eu- 
nice. Cynthia had been laying down the small dia- 
mond-shaped pieces, making a block. 

“ Why do you let the child muddle over those pieces, 
Eunice? The carpet may not be clean,” said Eliza- 
beth sharply. 

“ And it is getting dark, so we had better put them 
all up. Mercy! how it still rains. Why, it seems as 
if there would be another flood.” 

“ That can never happen. We have the promise.” 

“ That the whole world will not be destroyed. But 
parts of it may suffer. You and Cynthia are fortunate 
not to be in it ; ” and Eunice raised her eyes to them, 
with a certain thankfulness. 

It had not stopped yet in the morning, but the wind 
was veering to the south, the air was not so cold and 
the rain much gentler. Cynthia wandered about like 
an unquiet spirit. It was cold up in their room. Chil- 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 75 

ian had proposed a fire, but Elizabeth had negatived 
it sharply. 

“ There ought to be room enough in the dining- 
room and keeping-room for two extra people,” she 
said decidedly. 

He felt sorry for the little girl with her downcast 
face, as he met her on the landing. 

“ Don’t you want to come and visit me? ” he asked, 
in an inviting tone. 

“ Oh, yes ! ” and the grave little face lightened. 

The blaze was brighter here than downstairs, she 
felt quite sure. And the room had a more cheerful 
look. The table was spread with books and papers, 
and, oh, the books that were on the shelves! The 
curious things above them suggested India. There 
really was the triple-faced god she had seen so often, 
carved in ivory, and another carving of a temple. She 
walked slowly round and inspected them. Then she 
paused at a window. 

“ How much it rains ! ” she began. “ I don’t see 
how so much rain can be made. When is it going to 
stop?” 

“ I think it will hold up this afternoon and be clear 
to-morrow, clear and sunny.” 

“ I like sunshine best. And little rains. This has 
been so long.” 

“And we haven’t much to amuse a child. When 
it clears up we must find some little folks. Does it 
seem very strange to you ? ” 


7 6 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

“ I haven’t lived with big women much, except 
Rachel. And the houses are so different. You get 
things about, and the servants pick them up. There 
are so many servants. Sometimes there are white 
children, but not many. Their mothers take them back 
to England. Or they die.” 

She uttered the last sadly, and her long lashes 
drooped. 

He wondered a little how she had stood the climate. 
She looked more like a foreigner than a native of 
Salem town. 

“ What did you do there ? ” He hardly knew how 
to talk to a little girl. 

“ Oh, a great many things. I went to ride in a 
curious sort of cart — the natives pulled it. Then the 
children came and played in the court. They threw 
up balls and caught them, ever so many, and they 
played curious games on the stones, and acrobatic 
feats, and sung, and danced, and acted stories of funny 
things. Then father read to me, and told me about 
Salem when he was a little boy. You can’t really 
think the grown-up people were little, like you.” 

“ And that one day you will be big like 
them.” 

She pushed up her sleeve. They were large and 
made just big enough for her hand at the wrist, not 
at all like the straight, small sleeves of the Puritan 
children. After surveying it a moment, she said 
gravely : 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 77 

“ I can’t understand how you grow. You must be 
pushed out all the time by something inside.” 

“ You have just hit it; ” and he smiled approvingly. 
“ It is the forces inside. There is a curious factory in- 
side of us that keeps working, day and night, that sup- 
plies the blood, the warmth, the strength, and is always 
pushing out; it even enlarges the bones until one is 
grown and finished, as one may say. And the food 
you eat, the air you breathe, are the supplies.” 

“But you go on eating and breathing. Why don’t 
you go on growing ? ” 

There was a curious little knot in her forehead 
where the lines crossed, and she raised her eyes 
questioningly to him. What wonderful eyes they 
were ! 

“ I suppose it is partly this : You employ your mind 
and your body and they need more nourishment. Then 
— well, I think it is the restraining law of nature, else 
we should all be giants. In very hot countries and 
very cold countries they do not grow so large.” 

He could not go into the intricacies of physiology, 
as he did with some of the students. 

“ You did not go to school ? ” 

“ Oh, no ! ” She laughed softly. “ The native 
schools were funny. They sat on mats and did not 
have any books, but repeated after the teacher. And, 
sometimes, he beat them dreadfully. There were 
some English people had a school, but it was to teach 
the language to the natives. And then Mr. Cathcart 


78 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

came to stay with father. He had been the chaplain 
somewhere and wasn’t well, so they gave him a — 
a ” 

“ Furlough ? ” suggested Chilian. 

“ Yes ; father sent him out in one of the boats. He 
began to teach me some things. I could read, you 
know. And I could talk Hindostani some — with the 
children. Then I learned to spell and pronounce the 
words better. He had a few books of verses that were 
beautiful. I learned some of them by heart. And 
Latin.” 

“ Latin ! ” in surprise. 

“ He had some books and a Testament. It was grand 
in the sound, and I liked it. There were many things, 
cases and such, that I couldn’t get quite straight, but 
after a little I could read, and then make it over into 
English.” 

When he was eight he was reading Latin and be- 
ginning French. Some of the Boston women he knew 
were very good French scholars, though education 
was not looked upon as a necessity for women. It 
seemed odd to him — this little girl in Calcutta learning 
Latin. 

“ Let us see how far you have gone.” Teaching 
never irked him when he once set about it. 

He hunted up a simple Latin primer. 

" Come around this side ; ” and he drew her nearer 
to him. There had been no little girls to train and 
teach, and for a moment he felt embarrassed. But she 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 79 

took it as a matter of course, and he could see she was 
all interest. 

It had been, as he supposed, rather desultory teach- 
ing. But she took the corrections and explanations 
with a sweetness that was quite enchanting. And she 
could translate quite well, in an idiomatic fashion. 
Really, with the right kind of training she would make 
a good scholar. 

“ Oh, you must be tired of standing,” he said pres- 
ently. “ How thoughtless of me. I have no little 
chairs, so I must hunt one up, but this will have to 
do now. That will be more comfortable. Now we 
can go on.” 

She laughed at her own little blunders in a cheerful 
fashion, and made haste to correct them. And then he 
found that she knew several of the old Latin hymns 
by heart, as they had been favorites of the English 
clergyman. 

They were interrupted by a light tap at the door. 
He said “ Come ” ; and turned his head. 

It was Miss Winn. 

“ Pardon me. We couldn’t imagine where Cynthia 
was. Hasn’t she been an annoyance? ” 

“ Oh, no ; we have had a very nice time.” 

“ But — had you not better come downstairs. Miss 
Eunice is sewing her pretty patchwork again.” 

“ Oh, let me stay,” she pleaded. “ Do I bother 
you?” 

It crossed his mind just then that in the years to 


80 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

come more than one man would yield to the sweet 
persuasiveness of those eyes. 

“ Yes, let her stay. She is no trouble. Indeed, we 
are studying.” 

Miss Winn was glad of his indorsement. Miss 
Elizabeth had been “ worrying ” for the last ten min- 
utes. She had crept softly up to the garret, quite sure 
she should find the child in mischief. Then she had 
glanced into the “best chamber,” but there was no 
sign of her there. 

“ Very well,” replied Miss Winn. 

Cynthia drew a long breath presently. 

“ Oh, you are tired ! ” he exclaimed. “ Run over 
to the window and tell me how the sky looks. I think 
it doesn’t rain now.” 

She slipped down, stood still for a moment, then 
turned and clapped her hands, laughing deliciously. 

“ Oh, there is blue sky, and a great yellow streak. 
The clouds are trying to hide the sun, but they can’t. 
Oh, see, see ! ” 

She danced up and down the room like a fairy in 
the long ray of sunshine that illumined the apartment. 

“ Oh, are you not glad ! ” She turned such a joyous 
face to him that he smiled and came over to the win- 
dow that nearly faced the west. 

“ Better than the Latin ? ” 

“ Well — I like both ; ” archly. 

He raised the window. A warm breath of delight- 
ful air rushed in, making the room with the fire seem 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 81 


chilly by contrast. He drew in long reviving breaths. 
Spring had truly come. To-morrow the swelling buds 
would burst. 

“We must have a little Latin every day. And oc- 
casionally a walk in the sunshine. Twice a week I 
go down to Boston, but the other days will be 
ours.” 

“ I like your room,” she said frankly. “ But what 
sights of books ! Do you read them all ? ” 

“ Not very often. I do not believe I have read them 
all through. But I need them for reference, and some 
I like very much.” 

He wanted to add, “ And some were a gift from 
your dear father,” but he could not disturb her happy 
mood. 

“ Suppose we go down on the porch. It is too wet 
to walk anywhere.” 

“ Oh, yes ; ” delightedly. “ And to-morrow I will go 
down to the vessel again and see Captain Corwin. I 
do not want it to rain any more for weeks and weeks.” 

“ No, for days and days. Weeks would dry us all 
up, and we would have no lovely spring flowers.” 

“ And a famine maybe. Do the very poor people 
sometimes starve ? ” 

“ I do not think we have any very poor people, as 
they do in India. We are not overcrowded yet.” 

The rain had beaten the paths and the street hard, 
and it looked as if it had been swept clean. In spite 
of it all there were cheering evidences of spring. 


82 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ There are some children in that house,” she ex- 
claimed, nodding her head. 

“ Yes, the Uphams. There are two girls and two 
boys, the oldest and the youngest, who isn’t much 
more than a baby. Bentley Upham must be about 
twelve. Polly is next, but she is a head taller than 
you. Then there’s Betty. I am glad there will be 
some little girls for you to play with.” 

She looked eager and interested. 

“ Will you come in to supper ? Chilian, you ought 
to know better than to be standing in this damp air. 
And that child with nothing around her ! ” 

“ The air is reviving, after having been housed for 
two days.” But he turned and went in, leading the 
child by the hand. 

,The long, bleak New England coast winter was over, 
though it had lingered as if loath to go. Springs were 
seldom early, no one expected that. But this one came 
on with a rush. The willows donned their silver 
catkins and then threw them off for baby leaves, the 
lilac buds showed purple, the elms and maples came 
out in bloom, and the soft ones drew crowds of half- 
famished bees to their sweet tassels. The grass was 
vividly green, iridescent in the morning sun, with 
the dew still upon it. Snowdrop, crocus, hepatica, 
and coltsfoot, wild honeysuckle, were all about, the 
forsythia flared out her saucy yellow, the fruit buds 
swelled. Parties were out in the woods hunting trail- 
ing arbutus that has been called the darling of north- 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 83 

ern skies, that lies hidden in its nest of green leaves, 
silent, with no wind tossing it to and fro, but betrayed 
by its sweetness. 

There were other signs of spring at Salem. The 
whole town seemed to burst out in house-cleaning. 
Parlor shutters were thrown open and windows 
washed. Carpets were beaten, blankets hung out to 
air, those that had been in real use washed. Women 
were out in gardens with sunbonnets and gloves, a 
coat of tan not being held in much esteem, and snipped 
at roses and hardy plants. Men were spading and 
planting the vegetable gardens, painting or white- 
washing fences. All was stir and bustle, and tired 
folk excused themselves if they nodded in church on 
Sunday. 

Cynthia made pilgrimages to the Flying Star that 
had been her home for so long. The storm had 
wrought great havoc with some of the shipping, and 
big boys were out gathering driftwood. The Gazette 
had some melancholy news of “ lost at sea.” But 
Captain Corwin thought he had weathered (worse 
storms. 

“ She is picking up mightily,” he said to Miss Winn, 
nodding toward Cynthia. “ Shouldn’t be surprised if 
she favored her mother, after all. Only them eyes 
ain’t neither Orne nor Leverett. Don’t let her grieve 
too much when the bad news comes.” 

Eunice and Chilian had taken her to call on the 
Uphams. And though she was quite familiar at 


84 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

home, here she shrank into painful shyness and would 
not leave Eunice's sheltering figure. 

“ Children get soonest acquainted by themselves/' 
declared Mrs. Upham. “ I suppose you will send her 
to school. If she’s not very forward, Dame Wilby's 
is best. She and Betty can go together. Why, she 
isn't as tall as Betty — and nine, you said ? Granny was 
talking the other day about the time she was born. 
She's a real little Salem girl after all, though she’s 
got a foreign skin, and what odd-colored hair ! We've 
started Polly to Miss Betts. I want her to learn sew- 
ing and needlework, and she’s too big now to com- 
pany with such children. Why, I was almost a woman 
at twelve, and could spin and knit with the best of 
them. Miss Eunice, I wish you'd teach her that 
pretty openwork stitch you do so handy. Imported 
stockings cost so much. They say there’s women 
in Boston doing the fancy ones for customers. 
But I tell Polly if she wants any she must do them 
herself." 

Mrs. Upham had a tolerably pleasant voice. She 
always talked in monologues. Betty edged around 
presently and would have taken Cynthia’s hand, but 
the child laid it in Miss Eunice’s lap, and looked dis- 
trustful. 

Chilian was as glad as she when the call ended. 
He did not seek the society of women often enough 
to feel at home with them, though he was kindly polite 
when he did meet them. 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 8$ 

“ Did you ask about the school ? ” was the inquiry of 
Elizabeth that evening. 

“Yes; she thinks Dame Wilby’s the best for small 
children. And Cynthia knows so little that is of 
real importance, though she reads pretty well, ,, said 
Eunice. 

“ Yes, she must get started. I shall be glad when 
the Flying Star is off and she isn’t running down there 
with the men. I don’t see what’s got into Chilian to 
think of teaching her Latin. It had enough sight bet- 
ter be the multiplication table.” 

So she proposed the school to Chilian. She had a 
queer feeling about his fancy for the child. She 
would have scouted the idea of jealousy, but she would 
have had much the same feeling if he had “ begun to 
pay attention ” to some woman. The other matters 
had reached a passable settlement. The “ best cham- 
ber ” was tidily kept, the little girl well looked after 
to see that she troubled no one. Miss Winn kept her 
clothes in order, but they had a decidedly foreign look, 
and of materials no one would think of buying for a 
child. But the goods were here, and might as well be 
used. 

Miss Winn had made a few alterations in the room 
— softened the aspect of it. She longed to take out 
the big carved bedstead, but she knew that would 
never do. She made herself useful in many unobtru- 
sive ways, gardened a little, was neighborly yet 
reserved. 


86 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

“ I don't know what we would do if she were a 
gossip,” Elizabeth commented. 

She broached the subject of the school to Chilian. 

“ Why, yes,” he answered reluctantly. “ I sup- 
pose she ought to go. She’s curiously shy with other 
children.” 

“ She talks enough about that Nalla, as if they had 
been like sisters.” 

“ You can notice that she always preserves the dis- 
tinction, though.” 

“ There’s no use bothering with that Latin, Chilian. 
Next thing it will be French. And she won’t know 
enough figuring to count change. Girls don’t need 
that kind of education.” 

“ But some of them have to be Presidents’ wives. 
And some of them wives to men who have to go 
abroad. French seems to be quite general among 
cultivated people.” 

“ It’s hardly likely she’ll go abroad. And she needs 
to be like other people. I don’t see what you find so 
entertaining about her. And you couldn’t bear chil- 
dren in your room ! ” 

“ She isn’t any annoyance. Then she is so deft, so 
dainty. She touches books with the lightest of fin- 
gers. She will sit and look at pictures, and it quite 
surprises me how much she knows about geography.” 

“ And nothing much about her native country. She 
can’t tell the difference between Pilgrims and Puri- 
tans. And she didn’t know why we came over here, 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 87 

and why it was not the same God in England, and if 
all the gods in India were idols. Chilian, you shouldn’t 
encourage her irreverence. It looks pert in a child.” 

“ She will get over these ways as she grows older 
and mingles with other children.” 

“ That is what I am coming to. She ought to begin 
at once. Betty Upham goes to Dame Wilby. Her 
mother considers it excellent for small children. She 
could go with Betty and there would be no fear of 
her trailing off no one knows where.” 

Of course, she ought to go to school. He could 
manage a big boy on the verge of manhood very well. 
But this woman-child puzzled him. She seemed very 
tractable, obedient in a certain sense, yet in the end 
she seemed to get, or to take, her own way. Suppress- 
ing one train of action opened another. She had a 
sweet way of yielding, but a strong way of holding on. 
A little thing made her happy, yet in her deepest happi- 
ness there was much gravity. His theories were that 
certain qualities brought to pass certain results. He 
forgot that there were no such things as pure tempera- 
ments, and that environments made second nature 
different from what the first might have been. The 
child puzzled him by her contrariety, yet she was not 
a troublesome child. 

“ Well ; ” reluctantly. 

“ 111 see the Dame. And we will start her on 
Monday.” 

He nodded. 


88 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


Elizabeth had another point to gain. She looked 
over her trunk of pieces. Here were several yards of 
brown and white gingham, quite enough for a frock 
without any furbelows. With the roll in her hand she 
tapped at the partly open door. Rachel had laid out 
on the bed several white frocks, plain enough even 
for Salem tastes. 

“ Cynthia’s going to school on Monday,” she an- 
nounced. “ And I thought this would make her a 
good school frock. It won’t be dirty some. You see 
children here do dress differently. You’ll get into the 
ways.” 

Rachel looked at the gingham. “ I shouldn’t like it 
for her,” she said quietly. “ Her father always wanted 
to see her in white. That is new every time it is 
washed. These things fade and then look so wretched. 
Beside she will only outgrow these frocks.” 

“ Children here keep their white frocks for Sun- 
days,” was the decisive reply. 

“ She may as well wear these out. They were made 
last summer. She has not grown much meanwhile. 
I should like to keep her in the way her father de- 
sired.” 

“ Then she must have a long-sleeved apron to cover 
her up. This will make two. For those white things 
make an endless sight of washing.” 

“ I have been considering that,” said Rachel Winn 
quietly. “ I wear white a good deal myself. I no- 
ticed a small house on Front Street where there were 


MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LITTLE GIRL 89 

nearly always clothes on the lines, and I stopped in 
to inquire. I felt it was too much laundry-work for 
your woman through the summer. This Mrs. Pratt is 
very reasonable and does her work nicely. So I have 
made arrangements with her. Captain Leverett made 
a generous allowance for incidental expenses. ,, 

What Elizabeth termed Miss Winn’s " independ- 
ence ” grated sorely upon her ideas of what was owing 
to the head of the house, which was herself. It was 
always done so quietly and pleasantly one could hardly 
take umbrage. Cynthia was not exactly a child of the 
house. She was in no wise dependent on her newly 
found relatives. Chilian had made that understood in 
the beginning, when he had chosen the best chamber 
for them. 

“ You don’t need to take boarders,” she had replied 
tartly. 

“ I don’t know as we are to call it that. I am the 
child’s guardian and answerable for her comfort and 
her welfare. The perfect trust confided in me has 
touched me inexpressibly. I didn’t know that An- 
thony Leverett held me in such high esteem. And if 
I choose to put this money by until she is grown — it 
will make such a little difference in our living ” 

“ Chilian Leverett, you are justly entitled to it,” she 
interrupted with sharp decision. “ He’s right enough 
in making a fair provision for them — no doubt he has 
plenty. But I don’t quite like the boarder business, for 
all that.” 


9 ° 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ We must get some one to help you with the work.” 

“ I don’t want any more help than I have. Land 
sakes ! Eunice and I have plenty of leisure on our 
hands. I wouldn’t have a servant around wasting 
things, if she paid me wages.” 

They had gone on very smoothly. Eunice had 
found her way to the child’s heart. But then Eunice 
had lived with her dream children that might have 
been like Charles Lamb’s “ Children of Alice.” Eliza- 
beth might have married twice in her life, but there 
was no love in either case, rather a secret mortifica- 
tion that such incapables should dare to raise their 
thoughts to her. But she had some strenuous ideas 
on the rearing of children, quite of the older sort. 
Life was softening somewhat, even for childhood, but 
she did not approve of it. 


CHAPTER VI 


GOING TO SCHOOL 

Elizabeth Leverett interviewed Dame Wilby be- 
forehand. The woman came half a day on Monday 
to wash and she hardly knew how to spend half an 
hour, but when she found Miss Winn was going, she 
loftily relegated the whole business to her. 

Dame Wilby lived in an old rambling house, already 
an eyesore to the finer houses in Lafayette Street, but 
the Dame was obstinate and would not sell. “ It was 
going to last her time out. She was born here when it 
was only a lane, and she meant to be buried from 
here.” Once it had been quite a flourishing school ; but 
newer methods had begun to supersede it. It was 
handy for the small children about the neighborhood, it 
took them over the troublesome times, it gave their 
mothers a rest, and kept them out of mischief. And the 
old dames were thorough, as far as they went. In- 
deed, some of the mothers had never gone any farther. 
They could cast up accounts, they could weigh and 
measure, for they had learned all the tables. They 
could spell and read clearly, they knew all the common 
arts of life, and how to keep on learning out of the 
greater than printed books — experience. 

9i 


9 2 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


Dame Wilby might have been eighty. No one re- 
membered her being young. Her husband was lost at 
sea and she opened the school, worked in her garden, 
saved until she had cleared her small old home, and 
now was laying up a trifle every year. She was tall and 
somewhat bent in the shoulders, very much wrinkled, 
with clear, piercing light blue eyes and snowy hair. 
She always wore a cap and only a little line of it 
showed at the edge of her high forehead. Her frocks 
were made in the plainest style, skirts straight and 
narrow, and she always wore a little shoulder shawl, 
pinned across the bosom — white in the summer, home- 
dyed blue in the winter. 

Some children were playing tag in the unoccupied 
lot next door. The schoolroom door opened at the 
side. There were two rows of desks, with benches 
for the older children, two more with no desks for the 
ABC and spelling classes. The rest they learned 
in concert, orally. The dame had a table covered with 
a gray woollen cloth, some books, an inkstand, a holder 
for pens and pencils, and the never-failing switch. 

“ Yes,” she answered to Miss Winn’s explanation. 
“ Miss Leverett was telling about her. I was teaching 
school here when she was born, and then the captain 
took her away to the Ingies again.” Most folks pro- 
nounced it that way. “ Rather meachin’ little thing — 
I s’pose it was the climate over there. They say it 
turns the skin yellow. Let’s see how you read, sissy ? ” 

She read several verses out of the New Testament 


GOING TO SCHOOL 


93 


quite to the dame’s satisfaction. Then about spelling. 
The second word, in two syllables, floored her. Had 
she ciphered? No. Did she know her tables? No. 
The capital of the state? That she could answer. 
When the war broke out ? When peace was declared ? 

“ I’ll ask Cousin Leverett,” she answered, in nowise 
abashed by her ignorance. “ He tells me a great 
many things.” 

“ You must study it out of books. I s’pose she’s 
going to live here? She’s not going back to the 
Ingies? I heard the captain was coming home.” 

“ He is settling up his affairs,” was the quiet an- 
swer. 

Dame Wilby looked the child all over. 

“ You’ll sit on that bench,” she said. Then she rang 
the bell and the children trooped in, staring at her. 
The little boys — four of them — were on the seat back 
of her, on her seat she made the fifth. Betty Upham 
was in the desk contingent. 

They repeated the Lord’s prayer in concert. Then 
lessons were given out. The larger girls read. 

“ You can come and read with this class; ” nodding 
to Cynthia. 

She was not a regularly bashful child, but she 
flushed as the children stared at her. They sometimes 
wore their Sunday white frock one or two days at 
school. Cynthia was so used to her clothes, cared so 
little about them that they were rarely in her mind. 
But this universal attention annoyed her. 


94 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Tend to your books, children.” 

Cynthia acquitted herself finely, rather too much so, 
the dame thought. She would talk to her about it. 
A girl didn’t want to read as if she was a minister 
preaching a sermon. 

Then she was given a very much “ dog’s-eared ” 
spelling-book to study down a column. Another class 
read some easy lesson ; a story about a dog that inter- 
ested her so much that she forgot to study. While the 
older children were doing sums one little boy after 
another came up to the desk and spelled from a book. 
One’s attention wandered and the dame hit him a 
sharp rap. Tables followed, eight and nine times ; dry 
measure, and then questions were asked singly. Some 
few missed. Cynthia followed the spelling where 
they went up and down. Then the larger ones were 
dismissed for recess. 

“ Cynthy Leverett, come up here and see how many 
words you can spell. You ought to be ashamed, a 
big girl like you staying behind in next to the baby 
class.” 

Cynthia’s face was scarlet. Alas ! She had been so 
interested watching and listening she had not studied 
at all. But the words were rather easy and she did 
know all but two. 

“ Now you take the next line and those two over 
again. See if you can’t get them all learned by 
noon.” 

The next little girl, who could not have been more 


GOING TO SCHOOL 


95 


than six, missed a number. She had a queer drawl in 
her voice. 

“ What did I tell you, Jane Mason ? And you have 
missed more than two. Hold out your hand ! ” 

The switch came down on the poor little hand with 
an angry swish. Cynthia winched. 

“ Now you go back and study. No going out to 
play for you this morning. Jane Mason, you’re the 
biggest dunce in school.” 

The two other girls did better. Then the bell rang 
and the girls came in with flushed and laughing faces. 

Cynthia studied her two words over until they 
ceased to have any meaning. At twelve they were all 
dismissed. 

“Isn’t she a hateful old thing?” said Janie Mason, 
when they were outside of the door. “ I wish I was 
big enough to strike back. I don’t like school anyhow. 
Do you ? ” 

“ I — I don’t know. I have never been before.” 

Several of the other girls swarmed around her with 
curious eyes. 

“ What a pretty frock ! ” began Betty Upham. “ I 
suppose it’s your Sunday best, with all that work.” 

“ Betty said you were an Injun,” said another. “ I 
never saw an Injun who didn’t have coarse, straight, 
black hair, and yours is lightish and curls. I’d so love 
to have curly hair.” 

“ I’m not the kind of Indians you have here,” she 
returned indignantly. “ I was born right here in 


g6 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

Salem. I’ve lived in Calcutta and in China, and been 
to Batavia, and ever so many places.” 

“ Then you ain’t an Injun at all! Betty, how could 
you?” 

“ Well, that’s what some of them said. Maybe 
your mother was an Injun!” looking as if she had 
fixed the uncertain suspicion. 

“ No, she wasn’t. She lived here part of the time. 
She was born in Boston.” 

They glanced at each other in a kind of upbraiding 
fashion. 

“And you had to be put with the little children! 
Aren’t there any schools in that place you came from? 
It’s a heathen country. Our minister prays for it. 
Don’t you have any churches either ? What do people 
do when they are grown up if they never go to 
school ? ” 

“ Are you coming stiddy ? ” 

“ Is Mr. Chilian Leverett your real relation ? ” 

“ Oh, tell me — have you any other frock as pretty 
as this? My sister Hetty has a beautiful one, all lace 
and needlework. She’s saving it to be married in.” 

“ Martha, I dare you to a race ! ” 

Two girls ran off as fast as they could. Betty Up- 
ham caught Cynthia’s arm. 

“ I didn’t say you were a real Injun. Debby Strang 
always gets things mixed up. But it is something 
queer ” 

“ East India ; ” in a tone of great dignity. 


GOING TO SCHOOL 


97 

“ Where the ships are coming from all the time? 
Is it prettier than Salem? ” 

“ It’s so different you can’t tell. We do not have 
hardly any winter. And there are vines and flowers 
and temples to heathen gods, and the people are yellow 
and brown.” 

“ Do you suppose you will ever grow clear white ? ” 

Cynthia had half a mind to be angry. Even Miss 
Elizabeth was fair, and Miss Eunice had such a soft, 
pretty skin. 

“ There, that’s your corner. You’re coming this 
afternoon ? ” 

“ Oh, I suppose so.” 

Miss Elizabeth was all bustle and hurry. It was 
clouding up a little. It hadn’t been a real fair day, and 
the hot sun had dried the clothes too quick. She liked 
them to bleach on the line, it was almost as good as the 
grass. And Miss Drake couldn’t stay and iron, they 
had sickness over to the Appletons and she had to go 
there. Everything was out of gear. 

“ I’d help with the ironing, if you would like,” said 
Miss Winn. 

“ Well, the ironing isn’t so much ; ” rather ungra- 
ciously. “ You see, there were four blankets. I never 
touch an iron to them, but shake them good and fold 
them, and let them lay one night, then hang them on 
the line in the garret. The bulk of it was large. And 
a good stiff breeze blows out wrinkles. The wind 
hasn’t blown worth a Continental ; ” complainingly. 


98 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

“Did you like the school ?” Miss Winn inquired 
in the hall. 

“No, I didn't. And I don't seem to know any- 
thing ; " in a discouraged tone. 

“ Oh, you will learn." 

It was warm in the afternoon. Two of the boys 
were decidedly bad and were punished. They posi- 
tively roared. Cynthia spelled, and spelled, and 
studied — “ One and one are two," “ one and two 
are three," and after a while it dawned on her that 
it was just one more every time. Why, she had 
known that all the time, only it hadn’t been put in a 
table. 

It grew very tiresome after a while. She asked if 
she couldn’t have recess with the big girls, but was 
sharply refused. In truth the good dame grew very 
weary herself, and was glad when five o’clock came 
and she could go out in the garden and recruit her 
tired nerves. 

The stage was stopping at the door. Oh, how glad 
she was to see Cousin Leverett. He smiled down in 
the flushed face. 

“ How did the school go ? ” he asked. 

She hung her head. “ I don’t like it. I have to be 
with the little class because I don’t know tables, but I 
learned all the one times. That was easy enough when 
you came to see into it. But — nine and nine ? ” 

“ Eighteen," he answered promptly. 

“ And you answered it right offhand ! ” She gave 


GOING TO SCHOOL 


99 


a soft, cheerful laugh. “ Oh, do you suppose I shall 
ever know so much ? ” 

“ There was a time when I didn’t know it.” 

“Truly?” She looked incredulous. 

“ Truly. And I had quite hard work remembering 
to spell correctly.” 

“ I studied two lines. This morning I missed two 
words, but this afternoon I knew them all. And I 
can’t write on the slate. The pencil wabbles so, and 
then it gives an awful squeak that goes all over you. 
And I can’t do sums. And there’s all the tables to 
learn. And I don’t like the teacher. I wish Miss 
Eunice could teach me. Or maybe Rachel might.” 

“I might help you a little. But you read well?” 

“ She said it was too — too ” — she wrinkled up her 
forehead — “ too affected, like a play-actor.” 

“ Nonsense ! ” he cried disapprovingly. “ We will 
see about some other school presently. Would you 
like to take a walk with me? I’m tired of the long 
stage-ride.” 

“ Oh, so much ! ” She caught one hand in both of 
hers and gave a few skips of joy. 

“ Let us go over to the river.” 

Of course, he should have gone in and announced 
their resolve. But he was so used to considering only 
himself, and he realized that it must have been a tire- 
some day to her. They went over Lafayette Street, 
which was only a lane, and then turned up the stream. 

Oh, how sweet the air was with the odorous damp- 


IOO 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


ness and the smell of new growths, tree and grass. 
The sun, low in the west, slanted golden gleams 
through the tree branches which chased each other over 
the grassy spaces, as if they were quite alive and at 
merry-making. There were sedgy plants in bloom, 
jack-in-the-pulpit, and what might have been a lily, 
with a more euphonious name. Iridescent flies were 
skimming about, now and then a fish made a stir and 
dazzle. Squirrels ran up and down the trees and chat- 
tered, robins were singing joyously, the thrush with 
her soft, plaintive note. She glanced up now and then 
and caught his eye, and he felt she was happy. It was 
a delightful thing, after all, to render some one truly 
happy. Perhaps children were more easily satisfied, 
more responsive. 

“ Oh,” he said presently, “ we must go back or 
we will lose our supper, and Cousin Elizabeth will 
scold.” 

“ I shouldn’t think she would dare to scold you ; ” 
raising wondering eyes. 

“ Why not ? ” He wondered what reason she would 
give. 

“ Because you are a man.” 

“ She scolds Silas.” 

“ Oh, that is different.” 

“How — different? We are both men. He is quite 
as tall as I.” 

“ But you see — well, he is something like a servant. 
She tells him what to do, and if he doesn’t do it right 


GOING TO SCHOOL 


IOI 


she can find fault with it. But you are — well, the 
house is yours. You can do what pleases you .” 

“ Quite reasoned out, little one ; ” and he laughed 
with an approving sound. 

“ It’s curious that you scold people you like, and 
other people may do the same thing and — is it because 
you don’t dare to? If it is wrong in the one place, 
why not in the other ? ” 

“ Perhaps politeness restrains us.” 

“ I don’t like people to scold. Miss Eunice never 
does.” 

“ Eunice has a sweet nature. Doesn’t Miss Winn 
ever scold you ? ” 

“ Well — I suppose I am bad and wilful sometimes, 
and then she has the right. But when you do things 
that do not matter ” 

Miss Winn was walking in the garden. Cynthia 
waved her hand, but walked leisurely forward. 

“ I couldn’t imagine what had become of you.” 

“ It was my fault,” interposed Chilian. “ I met her 
at the gate and asked her to go for a walk.” 

“ And with that soiled apron ! ” 

“ That came off the slate. I hadn’t any desk. It 
was hard to hold it on my knee.” 

“ You might have come in for a clean one. Run 
upstairs and change it.” 

But she was destined to meet Cousin Elizabeth in 
the hall. The elder caught her arm roughly. 

“ Where have you been gadding to, bad girl ? 


102 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


Didn’t you know you must come straight home from 
school? Here we have been worried half to death 
about you, and I’m tired as a dog, trotting ’round all 
day. You deserve a good whipping ; ” and she shook 
her. She would have enjoyed slapping her soundly. 
But Chilian entered at that instant. 

“ She is going upstairs for a clean apron,” he said. 
“ I took her off for a walk.” 

“ She might have asked whether she could go or 
not,” snapped Elizabeth. “ She’s the most lawless 
thing!” 

“ It was my place. Don’t blame the child ! ” 

“ Well, supper’s ready.” 

She didn’t have her apron on quite straight and her 
hair was a little frowsy. Elizabeth had proposed it 
should be cut short on the neck for the summer, but 
Miss Winn had objected. 

“ Such a great mop! No child wears it! ” 

Cynthia came in quietly and took her place. After 
her first cup of tea Elizabeth thawed a little, enough 
to announce that two of the Appleton children were ill, 
they thought with scarlet fever. 

Chilian expressed some sympathy. 

“And how was the school, Cynthia? We thought 
you might have been kept in for some of your good 
deeds, as children are so seldom bad.” 

“ I — I didn’t like it,” she answered simply. 

“ Children can’t have just what they like in this 
world,” was Elizabeth’s rejoinder. 


GOING TO SCHOOL 


103 


“ Nor grown people either,” was Chilian’s softening 
comment. Then he changed the subject. He had seen 
Cousin Giles, who proposed to pay them a visit, com- 
ing on some Saturday. 

“ Have you any lesson to learn ? ” he asked of Cyn- 
thia. “ If so, bring your book and come to my room.” 

“ Oh, thank you ! ” Her face was radiant with de- 
light. 

Where had she left her book? Dame Wilby had 
told her to take it home and study. Surely she had 
brought it — oh, yes ! she had put it just inside the gate 
under the great clump of ribbon grass. If only Cousin 
Elizabeth’s sharp eyes had not seen it. But there it 
was, safe enough. 

She was delighted to go to Cousin Chilian’s room, 
though she never presumed. She seemed to have an 
innate sort of delicacy that he wondered at. 

The spelling was soon mastered. It was the rather 
unusual words that puzzled her. Then they attacked 
the tables and he practised her in making figures. 
Like most children left to themselves, she printed in- 
stead of writing. 

“ Oh ! ” she cried with a wistful yet joyous empha- 
sis, “ I wish I could come to school to you. And I’d 
like to be the only scholar.” 

“ But you ought to be with little girls.” 

“ I don’t like them very much.” 

Then Miss Winn came for her. “ You are very 
good to take so much trouble,” she said. 


io4 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Oh, I like you so much, so much ! ” she exclaimed 
with her sweet eyes as well as her lips. 

He recalled then the day on board the vessel, when 
she had besought in her impetuous fashion that he 
should kiss her. She had never offered the caress 
since. She was not an effusive child. 

Her position at school was rather anomalous. A 
younger woman might have managed differently. 
There was a new scholar that rather crowded them on 
the bench. And the boy back of her did some sly 
things that annoyed her. He gave her hair a twitch 
now and then. One day he dropped a little toad on her 
book, at which she screamed, though an instant after 
she was not at all afraid. Of course, he was whipped 
for that, and for once she did not feel sorry. 

“ You’re a great ninny to be afraid of a toad not 
bigger than a button,” he said scornfully. “ I’ll get 
you whipped some day to make up for it, see if I 
don’t.” 

Thursday was unfortunate and she was kept in for 
some rather saucy replies. When she returned they 
were in the sitting-room and had been discussing some 
household matters. She surveyed them with a cour- 
ageous but indignant air. 

“ Fve quit,” she exclaimed. “ I’m not going there 
to school any more.” 

She stood up very straight, her eyes flashing. 

“What!” ejaculated Cousin Elizabeth. 

“Why, I’ve quit! She wanted to make me say I 


GOING TO SCHOOL 


io 5 

was sorry and beg her pardon, and she threatened to 
keep me all night, but I knew some of you would come, 
at least Rachel.” 

“ And I suppose you were a saucy, naughty girl ! ” 

“ What happened ? ” asked Chilian quietly. 

“ Why, you see — I went up to her table with the 
figures I had been making on my slate. I’d done some 
of them over three times, for Tommy Marsh joggled 
my elbow. Then I went back to my seat. We’re 
crowded now, and I went to sit down and sat on the 
floor. I do believe Sadie Green did it on purpose — 
moved so there wasn’t room enough for me to sit. 
And Tom laughed, then all the children laughed, and 
Dame Wilby said, ‘ Get up, Cynthy Leverett,’ and I 
said ‘ My name isn’t Cynthy, if you please, and I 
haven’t any seat to sit on if I do get up.’ And then the 
children laughed again, and I don’t quite know what 
did happen, but I was so angry. Then she said all 
the children should stay in for laughing. She called 
me to the desk and I went. The slate was broken and 
I laid it on the table. Then she said wasn’t I sorry 
for being saucy, and I said I wasn’t. It was bad enough 
to fall on the floor, for I might have hurt myself. 
Then she took up her switch, and I said : 4 You strike 
me, if you dare ! ’ Then she pushed me in a little 
closet place, and there I staid until after school was 
out. Then she said, ‘ Would I tell Miss Leverett to 
come over ? ’ and I said Mr. Leverett was my guardian 
and I would tell him, but I wasn’t coming to school 


io6 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


any more, and that Tommy Marsh pinched me and 
pulled my hair, and called me wild Indian. And so— - 
IVe quit. You can't make me go again. I’ll run 
away first and go on some of the boats.” 

There was a blaze of scarlet on her cheeks and her 
eyes flashed fire, but she stood up straight and defiant, 
when another child might have broken down and cried. 
Chilian Leverett always remembered the picture she 
made — small, dark, and spirited. 

“ No,” he exclaimed, “ you need not go back.” 
Then he rose and took her hand that was cold and 
trembling. “ You will not go back. Let us find Miss 
Winn ” 

“ Chilian ! ” warned Elizabeth. 

He led Cynthia from the room, up the stairs. Miss 
Winn sat there sewing. She clasped her arms about 
him, he could fairly feel the throb in them. 

“ Oh,” she cried with a strange sort of sweetness. 
“ I love you. You are so good to me, and I have told 
you just the truth.” 

Then she buried her face on Miss Winn’s bosom. 

Chilian, went downstairs. He laughed, yet he was 
deepiy touched by her audacity and bravery. 

“ Elizabeth,” he announced ; “ I will see Mrs. 
Wilby. Let the matter die out, do not refer to it. I 
did not think it quite the school for her. We will find 
something else.” 

“ Chilian, I must make one effort for you and her. 
Going on this way will be her ruin. I should insist 


GOING TO SCHOOL 


107 


upon her going back to school and apologizing to Mrs. 
Wilby. I wouldn’t let a chit like that order what a 
household of grown people should do and make them 
bow down to her. You will be sorry for it in the end. 
You have had no experience with children, you have 
seen so few. And a man hasn’t the judgment ” 

His usually serene temper was getting ruffled, and 
with such characters the end is often obstinacy. 

“ If she is to make a disturbance here, become a 
bone of contention with us, I will send her away. 
Cousin Giles is taking a great interest in her. There 
are good boarding-schools in Boston, or she and Miss 
Winn could have a home together under his super- 
vision. There is enough to provide for them.” 

“ And you would turn her over to that half-heathen 
woman ! ” in a horrified tone. “ Then I wash my 
hands of the matter. Send her to perdition, if you 
will.” 


CHAPTER VII 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD 

Elizabeth Leverett busied herself about the supper. 
She felt as one does in the threatening of a thunder- 
storm, when the clouds roll up and the rumbling is 
low and distant and one studies the sky with presenti- 
ments. Then it comes nearer, flirts a little with the 
elements, breaks open and shows the blue that the 
scurrying wind soon hides and the real storm bursts. 
She had believed all along that it must come. 

She was not an ungracious or a selfish woman out- 
side of her own home. She was good to the sick and 
the needy, she gave of her time and strength. In the 
home there was a sense of ownership, of the self-appro- 
priation so often termed duty. Everything had gone 
on smoothly for years. . She had settled that Chilian 
would not marry. Such a bookish man, whose inter- 
ests lay chiefly with men, did not need a wife when 
there was some one at hand to make him comfortable. 
And that he surely was. He understood and enjoyed 
it. He had only to suggest to have. Her affection for 
him was like that for a younger brother. Even Eu- 
nice could not minister so well for his comfort, though, 
like Mary of Bible lore, she often added a delicate 
108 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD 109 

pleasure in listening to matters or incidents that inter- 
ested him. 

Elizabeth had settled to the idea of a little heathen 
soul that she was to lead aright. Missionary work in 
godless lands had not made much advance and, having 
no mother, who was there to warn her of the great 
peril of her soul? Seafaring men were not much 
given to thought of the other world. Perhaps there 
was some grace for them in the hours of peril, she 
had heard they prayed to God in an extremity; and 
there was the dying thief. But on land no one had a 
right to count on this. 

The child had changed everything. Even Eunice 
seemed to have lost the sharp distinction. Miss Winn 
belonged to the ungodly, that was clear — though she 
was upright, honest, neat, and in some ways sensible. 
But her ideas about the child were foreign and repre- 
hensible — dangerous even. The child was no worse 
than others, not as bad as some, for she had either by 
nature or training a delicate respect for the property of 
others. She never meddled. She asked few questions 
even when she stood by the kitchen table and watched 
the mysteries of cake and pie making and the delicacies 
of cooking. It was the right to herself that annoyed 
Elizabeth. People had hardly begun to suspect that 
children had any rights. 

“ But if she went away? If she was swallowed up 
in the vortex of the more populous city ” — greater, 
Salem would not have admitted. “ If the child’s 


no 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


soul was finally lost, would she be quite clear ? 
Would she have done all that she could for her 
salvation ? ” 

She thought of it as she prepared the supper. She 
surveyed the inviting-looking table and then rang the 
bell. Eunice brought in a handful of flowers. Chil- 
ian came — and Miss Winn. 

“ Cynthia has gone to bed, she does not want any 
supper,” was her quiet announcement. 

Elizabeth would have sent her to bed supperless, 
and approved of a severer punishment. 

Miss Winn asked some questions about Boston. 

“ I have quite a desire to see it,” she added. 

Yes, she would no doubt plan for a removal. Then 
the child would be forever lost. And a Leverett, too, 
come of a strong God-fearing family ! 

The child, when she had hidden her face on Rachers 
bosom, gave some dry, hard sobs that shook her small 
frame. Rachel smoothed her hair, patted the shoulder 
softly, and said “ Dear ” in a caressing tone. Then 
had come a torrent of tears, a wild hysterical weeping. 
She did not attempt to check it, but took Cynthia in 
her arms as if she had been a baby. 

“ Em not going to that school any more,” she said 
brokenly, after a while. 

“ What happened, dear ? ” 

Cynthia raised her head. “ It was very mean, as if 
I had done it on purpose! Why, I might have hurt 
myself ; ” indignantly. 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD hi 

“ How was it ? ” gently. 

And then the story came tumbling out. She saw a 
certain ludicrous aspect in it now, and laughed a little 
herself. “ I couldn’t help being saucy. And I thought 
she was going to strike me. Tommy Marsh began to 
laugh first. The slate broke ” 

“ Are you quite sure you were not hurt ? ” 

“ Well, my arm hurt a little at first, but it is all well 
now. But I shan’t go back to school, — no, not even to 
please Cousin Leverett, and I like him best of any 
one.” 

“ I’m going down to supper, dear. Shall I bring 
up yours ? ” 

“ I don’t want any. I couldn’t eat anything. And 
I can’t have Cousin Elizabeth’s sharp eyes looking at 
me. Oh, I’m glad I am not her little girl ! I like you 
a million times better, Rachel ; ” hugging her rap- 
turously. “ I think I’d like to have a glass of milk. 
And may I lie on your little bed ? ” 

“ Yes, dear.” 

She was asleep when Rachel came up and it was 
past nine when she woke, drank her milk, and went to 
bed for the night. 

How gaily the birds were singing the next morning, 
and the sunbeams were playing hide-and-seek through 
the branches that dance in the soft wind. All the air 
was sweet and the little girl couldn’t help being light- 
hearted. She sang, too; not measured hymns of sor- 
row and repentance, but a gay lilt that followed the 


1 12 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

bird voices. And she went down to breakfast and said 
her good-morning cheerfully. 

“That child has the assurance of the Evil One,” 
Elizabeth thought. 

Cynthia waylaid Cousin Chilian as he was going 
down the path. 

“ I meant what I said yesterday. I won’t go to that 
school any more. If there was some other — only — 
only I wish you could teach me until I could get 
up straight in all the things, so the other children 
wouldn’t laugh when I made blunders. I suppose it 
does sound funny ; ” and a smile hovered about the 
seriousness. 

“ We will consider another school,” he returned 
kindly, smiling himself at the remembrance of the 
tempest of yesterday. 

She persuaded Rachel to go out to walk and they 
went over to the bridge. She had been so interested 
in the story of it. Before it had faded from the minds 
of men it was to be splendidly commemorated as a 
point of interest in the old town. 

“ I like real stories,” she said. “ I don’t understand 
about the war, but it is fine to think the Salem men 
made the British soldiers go back when all the while 
the cannon and other arms were hidden away. You 
don’t mind, Rachel, if the Colonists did beat England, 
do you ? I’m a Colonist, you know.” 

“ That is long ago, and we are all friends now. I 
think the Colonists were very brave and persevering 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD 113 

and they deserved their liberty. I have heard your 
father talk about the war.” 

“ Oh, when do you suppose he will come? It seems 
so long to wait.” 

Rachel smiled to keep the tears out of her eyes. 

Chilian Leverett made a call and a brief explana- 
tion to Dame Wilby. She admitted she had been hasty, 
but the children were unusually trying. She was 
getting to be an old body and maybe she hadn’t as 
much patience as years ago. Cynthia said so many 
odd things that the children would giggle. She was 
slow in some things, and it seemed hard for her to 
learn tables, but she was not a bad child. 

So the tempest blew over. Elizabeth preserved a 
rather injured silence, but Eunice was cheerful and 
ready to entertain Cynthia with stories of the time 
when she was a little girl. Chilian arranged for her 
to spend most of the mornings with him when he was 
at home. She liked so very much to hear him read. 
The histories of that time were rather dry and long 
spun out, but he had a way of skipping the moralizing 
and the endless disquisitions and adding a little more 
vividness to people and incidents. It inspired him to 
watch her face changing with every emotion, her eyes 
deepening or brightening, and the slight mark in her 
forehead where lines of perplexity crossed. Then 
they would talk it all over. Often he was puzzled with 
her endless “ whys ” that he could not rightly explain 
to a child’s limited understanding. Sometimes she 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


114 

would say, “ Why, I would have done so/’ and he 
found her course would be on the side of the finest 
right, if not what was considered feasible. 

The spelling was a trial when the words were a little 
obscure. And though she had a wonderful knack of 
guessing at things, she surely was not bom for a 
mathematician. He had a fine, quick mind in that re- 
spect. But the Latin was a delight to her and she 
delved away at the difficult parts for the sake of what 
she called the grand and beautiful sound. His render- 
ing of it enchanted her. 

“ I don't see any sense in educating her like a boy," 
declared Elizabeth. “And she can’t do a decent bit 
of hemming. She ought to work a sampler and learn 
the letters to mark her own clothes. We did it before 
we were her age. Chilian thinks you can hire people 
to do these things for you, but it seems so helpless not 
to be able to do them for yourself. Housekeeping is of 
more account than all this folderol. She can never be 
a college professor." 

“ But women are keeping schools," interposed Eu- 
nice. 

“ They don’t teach Latin and all kinds of nonsense. 
That Miss Miller was here a few days ago to see if we 
didn’t want our niece — folks are beginning to call her 
that — to see if we did not want her to take lessons on 
the spinet. I was so glad she did not appeal to Chil- 
ian, though he was out. I said, ‘ No,’ very decidedly, 
* that she had a good many things to learn before she 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD 115 

tackled that.' And she said she ought to be trained 
while her fingers were flexible, and I said I thought 
washing would make them flexible enough. And 
there's fine ironing." 

“ There's no need of either for her," protested Eu- 
nice. 

“ Oh, you don’t know. There might be a war again. 
And a trouble about money. I'm sure there is talk 
enough and the country raising loans all the time, one 
party pulling one way, one the other. People are 
getting awfully extravagant nowadays. Patty Conant 
gave seven dollars a yard for her new black silk, and 
there were twelve yards. It broke pretty well into a 
hundred, and there was some fancy gimp and fringe 
and the making. Of course, there’s going to be two 
weddings in the family, and I don’t suppose Patty 
will ever buy another handsome gown at her time of 
life. Abner brought her home that elegant crape 
shawl, with the fringe and netting nearly half a yard 
deep. Maybe ’twas a present, she let it go that 
way." 

“ Of course, there's money enough among the 
Conants," Eunice commented gently. 

“ As I said — one can’t always tell what will come to 
pass, nor how much need you may have for your 
money. But I’m thankful my heart is not set on the 
pomps and vanities of this world. And children 
ought to be brought up to some useful habits." 

It was a fact that Cynthia did not take to the useful 


n6 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

branches of womanly living. She abhorred hemming 
— and such work as she made of it! Miss Eunice 
groaned over it. 

“ But you ought to have seen what I did two or 
three weeks ago,” and she laughed with a gay ring. 
“ Such stitches ! When I made them nice on the top, 
they were dreadful underneath, and the cotton thread 
was almost black. What is the use of taking such little 
bits of stitches ? ” 

“ Why — they look prettier. And — it is the right 
thing to do.” 

“ But you know Rachel can hem all the ruffles. And 
Cousin Elizabeth said ruffles were vanity. I’d like my 
frocks just as well to be plain.” 

“ There would have to be nice stitches in the 
hem.” 

“ Rachel didn’t sew when she was little. A great 
lady took her to Scotland, to wait on her, to get her 
shawl when she was a little cool, and fan her when 
she was warm, and carry messages, and drive out in 
the carriage with her. They had servants for every- 
thing. And then — she was ten years old — she sent her 
to a school, where she learned everything. But she 
doesn’t know all the tables and a great many other 
things.” 

“ But she knows what fits her for her station in 
life.” 

Cynthia looked puzzled. “ What is your station in 
life ? ” she asked with an accent of curiosity. 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD n 7 

“ Oh, child, it is where you are placed; and the work 
of life is the duties that grow out of it — and your duty 
towards God.” 

Cynthia dropped into thought. 

“ Then my duty now is to study. I like it ; that is, 
I like a good many things in it. And when my father 
comes home it will be changed, I suppose. You can’t 
stay a little girl always.” 

“ But you will have to learn to keep house,” re- 
turned Eunice. 

“ Oh, I’ll have some one to do that. Men never 
have to cook or keep house. Oh, yes ; all the cooks on 
the ship were men. Wasn’t that funny ! ” she con- 
tinued. 

She laughed with so much innocent merriment that 
Miss Eunice laughed too. 

“ I suppose you have to do various things in your 
life,” she sagely remarked, after a pause. 

“ Then you must learn to do the various things 
now.” 

“ I believe I won’t ever get married. I’ll live with 
father always, and we will have some one to keep the 
house, and Rachel will make the clothes. And I’ll 
read aloud to father. We’ll have a carriage and go 
out riding, and talk about India. I remember so 
many things just by thinking them over. Isn’t it 
queer, when for a long time they have gone out of your 
mind? Oh, dear Cousin Eunice, what makes you 
sigh?” 


1 18 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

Cousin Eunice took off her glasses, wiped them vig- 
orously, and then wiped her eyes. 

“ It is a bad habit I have.” But she was thinking 
of the dream of the little girl that could never come 
true. 

The two days in the week that Chilian went into 
Boston were long to Cynthia. She sat in his room 
and studied. He had given her a small table to her- 
self and a shelf in a sort of miscellaneous bookcase. 
He found that she never trespassed and that she did 
really study her two hours, sometimes longer when 
the task was not so easily mastered. There was some 
of the old Leverett blood in her, but it had a pictur- 
esque strain. She placed every book at its prettiest, 
and her papers were gathered up and taken down to 
the kitchen when she was done with them. She was 
beginning to write quite well. 

Then in the afternoon she went to walk with Rachel 
to show her the curious places Cousin Leverett had 
told her about. And there were still beautiful woods 
around the town, where they found wild flowers and 
sassafras buds. 

Elizabeth was very much engrossed. She had 
cleared the garret spick and span, scrubbed up the 
floor, wiped off her quilting frames, and put in her 
white quilt, rolling up both sides so she could get at 
the middle. There was to be a circle, with clover 
leaves on the outside. Then long leaves rayed off 
from the exact middle. She had all the patterns 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD n 9 

marked out. When that was done a wreath went 
around next — oak leaves and acorns. 

She had groaned over the time the little girl devoted 
to Latin, but she never thought all this a waste of 
precious hours. She would never need it and she 
could not decide upon any relative she would like to 
leave it to. There was one quilt of this pattern in 
Salem and, though white quilts were made, few could 
afford to spend so much time over them. There were 
knitted quilts, with ball fringe around four sides, and 
the tester fringed the same way. Old ladies kept up 
their habits of industry in this manner when they were 
past hard work. 

Eunice had finished her basket quilt and it was 
really a work of art. But she was out in the flower 
garden a good deal in the early morning and late after- 
noon. Cynthia sometimes kept her company, but she 
was not an expert in gardening science. In the even- 
ing they sat out on the porch, and a neighbor called 
perhaps. Or she walked over to South River if it was 
moonlight. And, oh, how beautiful everything was! 

But it was not all quilting with Miss Elizabeth. In 
July wild green grapes were gathered for preserves. 
Cynthia thought it quite fun to help “ pit ” them. You 
cut them through the middle and with a small pointed 
knife took out the seeds. She tired of it presently and 
did not cut them evenly, beside she was afraid of 
cutting her thumb. 

Cousin Elizabeth went about getting dinner, which 


120 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


was quite a simple thing when Chilian was away, and 
at night they had a high tea. 

“ I’ll cut them,” said Eunice, “ and you can pick out 
the seeds. But maybe you are tired ; ” with a glance 
of solicitude. 

“ Yes, I’m tired, but I'm going to keep straight on 
until dinner-time,” she answered pluckily. 

“ You are a brave little girl.” 

But Cousin Elizabeth said, “ Well, for once you have 
made yourself useful.” 

There was a great point of interest just then for the 
people on this side of the town. Front Street was the 
old river path that had followed the shore line. One 
end was known now as Wharf Street, and was begin- 
ning to be lined with docks. Up farther to what is 
now Essex Street there had stood a house with a his- 
tory. Its owner had been a Tory, and just before the 
war broke out he entertained Governor Gage and the 
civil and military staff. Timothy Pickering had been 
summoned to the Governor’s presence, but he kept 
his Excellency so long in an indecent passion that the 
town-meeting had to be adjourned. Troops were or- 
dered up from the Neck and for a while an encounter 
seemed imminent. Later, when the Colonists were in 
the ascendency, Colonel Browne’s estate was confis- 
cated, and after the close of the war it was turned 
over to Mr. Elias Derby. Now he was removing it 
to make way for a much finer residence and, being 
a notably patriotic citizen, he did not enjoy the stigma 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD i 2I 

of a Tory house. Parts were carried away as curiosi- 
ties, and there were some beautiful carvings and fine 
newel posts that found a place in new homes as me- 
mentoes. Afterward, Mr. Derby built the handsomest 
and costliest house in Salem, with grounds laid out 
magnificently. 

Then came a very busy time. There was preserving 
that every housewife attended to for winter use, pick- 
ling of various kinds, for there was no canning stock 
in those days to eke out. There were some queer 
fruits from India, and preserved ginger in curious jars 
that are highly esteemed to this day, but they were 
luxuries. Then a house-cleaning season, not as bad as 
the spring, but still bad enough. And flower seeds to 
be saved, garden seeds to be dried, so the beautiful 
quilt was rolled up in a thick sheet and put away for 
the present. 

The little girl had made quite friends with the Up- 
ham children and went over there to tea all alone, but 
she felt very strange. They played tag and blind- 
man’s buff, but Cynthia thought puss in the corner 
the most fun. Bentley was a nice big boy and very 
well mannered. Polly talked over her school and 
brought out her needlework, which was to be the bot- 
tom of a white frock. It would be only two yards 
round and she had almost a yard worked. Then she 
was making a sampler, with an oak and acorn vine 
around it, and it was to have four different kinds of 
lettering on it. 


122 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ I don’t know when I shall get it done,” she said 
with a sigh. 

Betty declared Dame Wilby was crosser than ever 
and Priscilla Lee wasn’t coming back, nor Margaret 
Rand, and she was coaxing mother to let her go else- 
where. 

After a while Cynthia declared she must go home. 
Cousin Chilian had said he would come for her, but 
the clock was striking nine and he had not come. He 
sometimes did forget. 

Bentley took his hat and walked beside her in quite 
a mannish way. 

“ I do hope you will come again,” he said. “ You 
were so pleasant when you were caught, and I do 
hate to have girls saying all the time, 4 Now that isn’t 
fair,’ and squirming out.” 

“ But if you’re playing you must take the best and 
the worst. I liked puss in the corner and didn’t mind 
being the left-out pussy. I thought it was quite fun to 
hunt a corner again.” 

Then they met Cousin Chilian, who had been 
playing a rather prolonged game of chess with a 
visitor. But Bentley kept on with them, and said 
good-night with a polite bow, adding, “ She must 
come again, Mr. Leverett, we had such a very nice 
time.” 

“ And wasn’t he nice ! ” exclaimed the child eagerly. 
“ He is like some of the grown-up men. I like big 
boys much better than the little ones.” 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD 123 

He smiled to himself at that. 

Now there came cool nights and mornings, but the 
world was beautiful in its turning leaves, the fragrance 
of ripening fruit, and the late gorgeous-colored flow- 
ers. They took delightful walks and found so many 
curious places. Sometimes Bentley Upham met them 
and joined in their walks and talks. He thought the 
little girl knew a great deal. And that she had been 
in India, and China, and ever so many of the islands, 
was wonderful. 

“ Don’t you ever sew ? ” he asked one afternoon, as 
they were rambling about. 

“ I don’t like it much ; ” and she glanced up with 
fascinating archness. “ I suppose I shall have to 
some day, but Cousin Leverett thinks there is time 
enough.” 

“ I’m glad you don’t,” in a hearty tone. “ I don’t 
have any good of Polly any more. What with her 
white frock, and some lace she is making for a cape, 
and forty other things, she never has time for a game 
of anything, or a nice walk. And she doesn’t care 
about study, though her lessons are so different. I 
don’t know another girl who studies Latin, and it’s so 
nice to talk it over. How rapidly you must have 
learned.” 

He looked at her in admiration. 

“ Oh, I knew some of it before I came here. There 
was a chaplain in Calcutta who was — well, not exactly 
ill, but not well; and father took him with us on the 


I2 4 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


vessel when he went for certain things, and he staid 
with us afterward. He used to read aloud, and it 
sounded so splendid ! Then he taught me. But 
Cousin Leverett said it wasn’t quite right, so I am 
going over it. And he is teaching me a little 
French.” 

“ You know they think women don’t need to know 
much beside housekeeping and sewing. I just hate to 
hear about ruffles cut on the straight or bias, and I 
couldn’t tell what Dacca muslin, or jaconet, or dimity 
was to save myself. And eyelet work and French 
knots and run lace — that’s what the big girls who 
come to see Polly talk about. But I like books, 
and studies, and different countries. I’d like to 
travel. But I don’t know that I want to be a sea 
captain.” 

They found some queer old houses that were odd 
enough. Mr. Leverett said they were almost two 
hundred years old, and that at first the place kept the 
old Indian name, Naumkeag. But the Reverend Fran- 
cis Higginson gave it a new name out of the Bible — 
“ In Salem also is His tabernacle.” The early pilgrims 
built a chapel at once. 

“ How close the houses are ! ” 

It was a row that had survived the hand of im- 
provement. There was a huge central chimney-stack, 
big enough for a modern factory, and the house 
seemed built around it. The second story overhung 
the first, and in some of them were small dormer win- 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD 125 

dows looking like bird houses. And the little panes 
of greenish glass seemed to make windows all frame- 
work. 

Cynthia was much interested in the Roger Williams 
house, and the story of the old minister. 

“ Why, I thought religion made people good and 

pleasant ” Then she checked herself, for often 

Cousin Elizabeth was not pleasant. And she seemed 
more religious than Cousin Eunice. And Cousin Chil- 
ian rarely scolded or said a cross word — he never 
talked about religion, but he went to church on Sun- 
day; they all did. She studied the Catechism, she 
could learn easily when she had a mind to, but she 
didn’t understand it at all. She shocked Elizabeth by 
her irreverent questions. There was the old horn- 
book primer with — 

** In Adam’s fall 
We sinned all.” 

“ I don’t see how that could be when we were not 
there ! ” she said almost defiantly. 

“ It means the nature we inherited.” 

“ But I don’t think that fair ! ” 

“ You don’t know, you never can understand 
until you are in a state of grace. Don’t ask such 
impertinent questions. You are a little heathen 
child.” 

Then she asked Cousin Chilian what “a state of 
grace ” meant. 


126 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

“ I think it is the willingness to do right, to be truth- 
ful, kindly, obliging. It is all comprised in the Golden 
Rule — to love God with all your heart and your neigh- 
bor as yourself, not to do anything to him that you 
would not like to have done to yourself, and to do to 
him whatever you would like him to do for you. That 
is enough for a little girl.” 

“ That sounds like Confucius,” she said thought- 
fully. 

But she went back to Roger Williams when Bentley 
said he was one of his heroes. 

“ What did he do ? ” she asked, interested. 

“ Well, he founded the City of Providence. And if 
William Penn is to be honored for founding a city of 
brotherly love, Roger Williams deserves it for estab- 
lishing a city where different sects should agree with- 
out persecuting each other. You see, they banished 
him from Salem back to England because he thought 
a man had some right to his own opinions, so long as 
he worshipped God. So he went to Providence in- 
stead. He walked all the way with just his pocket 
compass to guide him, and how he must have worked 
to make a dwelling-place for himself and his friends 
in the dead of winter! There were some Quakers 
already there, who had been banished from other set- 
tlements, and they all resolved to be friendly. Yes, I 
call him a hero ! ” 

Cynthia studied the house with the little courtyard 
and the great tree shading it. 


CHANGEFUL LIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD 127 

“ Polly said it was the Witch House,” she re- 
marked. 

“ That was because there were trials for witchcraft. 
You are too young to hear about that,” Chilian said 
decisively, with a glance at Bentley. 


CHAPTER VIII 


sorrow’s crown of sorrow 

Occasionally they went down to the warehouse, and 
while Chilian was busy some of the captains or mates 
would speak to her. They knew about her father and 
one sad fact she did not know. For she had settled 
in her mind that Captain Corwin would bring him back 
and that it would take a long, long while. So she tried 
to be content and if not teasing or fretting was one of 
the ways of being good, she tried her utmost to keep 
to that. She was too brave to tell falsehoods to shield 
herself from any inadvertent wrongdoing, even if 
Cousin Elizabeth did sometimes say: 

“ You ought to be soundly whipped. To spare the 
rod is to spoil the child.” 

She thought if anybody ever did whip her she 
should hate him all the rest of her life. Servants 
and workmen were beaten in India, and it seemed de- 
grading. She did not know that Cousin Chilian had 
insisted that she should never be struck. He was un- 
derstanding more every day how her father had loved 
her, and finding sweet traits in her unfolding. 

She liked these rough bronzed men to touch their 
odd hats to her and call her Missy. Some of them had 
128 


SORROW’S CROWN OF SORROW 


129 

seen her in Calcutta and knew her father. And when 
she said, “ It takes a long, long while to go there and 
come back, but when Captain Corwin brings him he is 
going to live here and will never go to sea any more ,, — 
“No, that he never will, missy;” and the sailor 
drew his hand across his eyes. 

Oh, how full the wharves were with shipping! 
Flags and pennons waved, and white sails; others, 
gray with age and weather, flapped in the wind. She 
liked to see them start out ; she always sent a message 
by them in the full faith of childhood. And there were 
the fishermen in the cove lower down. Fishing was 
quite a great business. 

Cousin Giles had made his visit and spent two whole 
days down in the warehouse, when they had not taken 
her. But she helped Cousin Eunice cut the stems of 
the sweet garden herbs for drying, and the others for 
perfumery. There was lavender, the blossoms had 
been gathered long ago, and sweet marjoram and 
sweet clover. She always gathered the full-blown rose 
leaves and sewed them up in little bags and laid them 
among the household stores. Everything was so fra- 
grant. Cynthia thought she liked it better than sandal- 
wood and the pungent Oriental perfumes. 

Then came the autumnal storms, when the vessels 
hugged the docks securely at anchor. The house was 
chilly all through and fires were in order. Some two 
or three miles below there was a wreck of an East 
Indiaman, and for days fragments floated around. 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


* 3 ° 

Some lives were lost, and the little girl shuddered over 
the accounts. 

All the foliage began to turn and fall. The late 
flowers hung their heads. It had been a beautiful 
autumn, people said to pay up for the late spring. 

There had been a little discussion about a school 
again. 

“ She seems so small, and in some things diffident,” 
Chilian said. “ The winters are long and cold, and she 
has not been used to them. Cousin Giles thinks her 
very delicate.” 

“ She isn’t like children raised here, but she’s quite 
as strong as common. She oughtn’t be pampered and 
made any more finicking than she is. A girl almost 
ten. What is she going to be good for, I’d like to 
know?” 

Cousin Giles had not made much headway with her. 
He was large and strong with an emphatic voice, and 
a head of thick, strong white hair, a rather full face, 
and penetrating eyes. He had advised about invest- 
ments, though he thought no place had the outlook of 
Boston. But Salem was ahead of her in foreign trade. 

Chilian Leverett felt very careful of the little girl. 
For if she died a large part of her fortune came to him. 
He really wished it had not been left that way. There 
was an East India Marine Society that had many 
curiosities — stored in rooms on the third floor of the 
Stearns building. It had a wider scope than that and 
was to assist widows and orphans of deceased mem- 


SORROW’S CROWN OF SORROW 


I 3 I 

bers, who were all to be those “ who had actually navi- 
gated the seas beyond Cape of Good Hope, or Cape 
Horn, as masters or supercargoes of vessels belonging 
to Salem. ,, To this Anthony had bequeathed many 
curiosities and a gift. There was talk of enlarging its 
scope, which was begun shortly after this. 

Matters had settled to an amicable basis in the Lev- 
erett house. Rachel had won the respect of Elizabeth, 
who prayed daily for her conversion from heathendom 
and that she might see the claims the Christian religion 
had upon her. Eunice and she were more really 
friendly. She made some acquaintances outside and 
most people thought she must be some relation of the 
captain’s. She had proved herself very efficient in 
several cases of illness, for in those days neighbors 
w r ere truly neighborly. 

Cynthia did shrink from the cold, though there were 
good fires kept in the house. This winter Chilian had 
a stove put up in the hall, very much against Eliza- 
beth’s desires. Quite large logs could be slipped in 
and they would lie there and smoulder, lasting some- 
times all night. It was a great innovation and extrava- 
gance, though wood seemed almost inexhaustible in 
those days. And it was considered unhealthy to sleep 
in warm rooms, though people would shut themselves 
up close and have no fresh air. 

Then the snow came, but it was a greater success in 
the inland towns, and there were sledding and sleigh- 
riding. The boys and girls had great times building 


132 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


forts and having snowballing contests. But the little 
girl caught a cold and had a cough that alarmed her 
guardian a good deal and made him more indulgent 
than ever, to Elizabeth’s disgust. 

She was not really ill, only pale and languid and 
seemed to grow thinner. She was much fairer than 
any one could have supposed and her eyes looked 
large and wistful. Chilian put some pillows in the big 
rocking-chair and tilted it back so that she could al- 
most lie down on it. 

“ You are so good to me,” she would say with her 
sweet, faint smile. 

Bentley came in now and then of an evening, and 
she liked to hear what they were doing at school. 
Polly, too, made visits; they had a half-holiday on 
Saturday. She always brought some work, and Eliza- 
beth considered her a very industrious girl. She was 
going to a birthday party of one of her mates. 

“ What do they do at parties ? ” inquired the little 
girl. 

“ Oh, they play games. There’s stagecoach. Every- 
body but one has a seat. He blows a horn and 
sings out, 4 Stage for Boston,’ or any place. Then 
every one has to change seats. Such a scrambling and 
scurrying time! and the one who gets left has to take 
the horn.” 

“ It’s something like puss in the corner.” 

“ Only ever so many can play this. Then there’s 
‘ What’s my thought like ? ’ That’s rather hard, but 


SORROW’S CROWN OF SORROW 


*33 


funny. I like twirling the platter. If you don’t catch 
it when it comes near you, you must pay a forfeit. 
And redeeming them is lots of fun, for you are told 
to do all sorts of ridiculous things. Then there’s some 
goodies and mottoes and you can exchange with a boy. 
But Kate Saltonstall’s big sister had a party where 
they danced. Eliza wanted some dancing, but her 
mother said so many people did not approve of it for 
children.” 

“ And don’t you have some one to come and dance 
for you ? ” 

“ Oh, what a queer idea ! The fun is in dancing 
yourself with a real nice boy. Some people think it 
awfully wrong. Do you, Miss Winn ? ” 

“ No, indeed. When I was a child in England we 
went out and danced on the green. Everybody did. 
And when there were doings at the great houses — like 
Christmas, and weddings, and coming of age — the 
ladies, in their silks and satins and laces, came down 
in the servants’ hall and danced with the butler and 
the footmen, and my lord took out some of the maids. 
I don’t think dancing hurts any one.” 

“ I’m glad to hear you say that, Miss Winn. They 
are talking of having a dancing-class in school. I 
hope mother will let me join it.” 

“ And they teach it in schools there.” 

“ And why shouldn’t they here ? ” said Polly. 

To be sure. Cynthia was much interested and made 
Polly promise to come again and tell her all about it. 


,34 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

Old Salem was awakening rapidly from her rigid 
torpor. 

“ I wonder if I could ever have a party,” she said 
to Cousin Leverett that evening. “ When father 
comes home we might have what they did at the Per- 
kinses when they went in their new place — a house- 
warming. Is that like a party ? ” 

“ About the same thing.” 

“ Cousin Elizabeth thinks it wicked. Wouldn’t she 
think dancing wicked ? ” 

“ I am afraid she would.” 

Cynthia sighed. No, she couldn’t have a party here. 

She waited quite eagerly for Polly’s account. The 
little girl was in her own room. Miss Winn had gone 
out to get some medicine. Cynthia tried to be well 
sometimes, so she would not have to take the nauseous 
stuff. No one had invented medicated sugar pills at 
that time. She liked Cousin Elizabeth’s cough syrup. 

Polly was overflowing with spirits. 

“ Oh, I want to be big, right away. Bella Saltonstall 
was there and she’s going into company next winter, 
she says. And she showed us some of the dancing 
steps and they just bewitch you. It’s like this ” — and 
Polly picked up her frock in a dainty manner and 
whirled about the vacant spaces in the room. 

“ But doesn’t it tire you dreadfully ? The girls in 
India stand still a great deal more and just sway about. 
They come in and dance for you.” 

“ Tire you ! Oh, no. That’s the great fun, to do it 


SORROW’S CROWN OF SORROW 


*35 


yourself. Bella said it was — ex — something, and the 
word is in the spelling-book, but I never can remem- 
ber the long words. Oh, I just wish I was fifteen and 
wasn’t going to school any more. And then there’s 
keeping company and getting married, and having 
your setting out. School seems stupid. There were 
two boys who wanted to come home with me, but 
mother said Ben must. Then I wished — well, I wished 
he was in college. He wants to go. Father says Mr. 
Leverett has infected him with the craze.” 

“ If I was a boy, I’d like to go. Cousin Leverett is 
going to take me to Harvard next summer when they 
have their grand closing time.” 

“ I’d rather be a girl and have a nice beau.” 

Plainly Polly had been saturated with dissipation. 

Spring was suggesting her advent. The days were 
longer. The snow was disappearing. 

“ Oh, Cousin Leverett, look — there are some buds 
on the trees ! ” she cried. 

“ Yes. You can see them at intervals through the 
winter. They are wise little things, and swell and then 
shrink back in the cold.” 

“ I’m so glad. I can soon go out. I get very tired 
some days. I like summer best.” 

“ Yes. I do hope we shall have an early spring.” 

She looked up with smiling gladness. 

That afternoon she had fallen asleep in the big chair. 
How almost transparent she was. The long lashes 
lay on the whiteness of her cheek — yes, it was really 


136 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

white. And there was very little color in her 
lips. 

Abner Hayes came up from the warehouse with 
some papers the Ulysses had just brought in. 

“ That the captain’s poor little girl ? ” 

“ Yes ; she’s asleep. She hasn’t been very well this 
winter, but the first nice balmy day I shall take her 
out driving. I’ve been almost afraid to have the air 
blow on her.” 

“ Yes, she ought to live and enjoy all that big for- 
tune. It’s a thousand pities the captain couldn’t have 
come back and enjoyed it with her. But we must all 
go when our time comes. You never hear a hard word 
said about him, and sure’s there’s a heaven he is 
in it.” 

Chilian held up his finger. Then he signed a paper 
that had to go back, and asked if the cargo of the 
Ulysses was in good shape. 

Elizabeth called him downstairs after that. There 
was a poor man wanting some sort of a position and 
Chilian promised to look out for him. He had been 
porter in a store, but the heavy lifting made him cough. 
He would have to get something lighter. 

When he returned Cynthia was standing by his 
table, white as a little ghost. He almost dropped into 
the chair. 

“Was I dreaming, or did that man say my father 
couldn’t come back to Salem, that he — that he 

yy 


was- 


SORROW’S CROWN OF SORROW 


137 


She swayed almost as if she would fall. He drew 
her down on his knee and her head sank on his shoul- 
der. She was so still that he was startled. How many 
times he had wondered how he would get her told. 
Perhaps it had been wrong to wait. 

“ My little girl ! My little Cynthia ” 

“ Wait,” she breathed, and he held her closer. He 
had come to love her very much, though he had taken 
her unwillingly. 

“ Is it true ? But no one would say such a thing if 
it were not. I had been asleep. I woke just as he said 
that. Perhaps I had been dreaming about our being 
together. And it seemed at first as if my tongue was 
stiff and I couldn’t even make a sound. Did he go to 
heaven without me ? ” 

Oh, what should he say to comfort her ! She had so 
many feelings far under the surface. 

“ My little dear,” and his voice was infinitely fond, 
“ I want to tell you that he loved your mother tenderly. 
No one could have been better loved. In the course of 
a few hours she was snatched away from him. You 
were so little — five years ago. I doubt if there was 
ever a day in which he did not think of her. When 
you are grown and come to love some one with the 
strength of your whole heart, you will understand how 
great it is. And when the summons came for him his 
first thought was that he should see her, and with the 
next he must find a new home for his little girl, so he 
gave you to me. It is very hard just now, but you 


138 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

must think how happy they are together. Perhaps 
they both know you are here, where you will be cared 
for and made happy, for we all love you. Every one 
has not the same way of showing love, but Cousin 
Elizabeth has done everything she could for you this 
winter. And we don’t want to lose you. You won’t 
grudge them a few years together in that happy 
place?” 

“ Oh, are you quite sure there is a heaven ? ” 

Oh, Cynthia, you are not the first one who has asked 
to have it certified. 

“ Yes, dear ; very sure,” in the tone of faith. 

“ He loved mother very much ? ” 

“ Yes.” 

There was a long silence. He felt the slow beating 
of her little heart. 

“ Then I ought to be content, since he gave me to 
you, when he knew he was going away.” 

“ It would have been very sad if you had been left 
alone there. Out of his great love he planned it this 
way, thinking the tidings would not come so hard 
after a while. And now you can always recall him as 
you saw him last and just think, in a moment of time 
God called and he stepped over the narrow space that 
seems such a mystery to us and met her. I wish we 
didn’t invest death with so much that is painful, for it 
is God’s way of calling us to a better land where there 
are no more partings. Sometime you and I will go 
over to them.” 


SORROW’S CROWN OF SORROW 


139 

“ I shouldn’t feel afraid with you,” she commented 
simply. 

When the tea bell rang she asked to be carried to 
her room and laid on Rachel’s little bed. He kissed 
her gently and turned away. 

The next was his day in Boston. But late in the 
afternoon, after Miss Eunice had been visiting her an 
hour or so, she went to the study and sat by the win- 
dow, where she could see him come. He glanced up 
and she waved her hand daintily. All day he had 
been wondering how he should find her. 

“ I haven’t coughed but a very little to-day,” she 
exclaimed. “ Cousin Elizabeth made some new syrup. 
And the doctor was in. He said I was a little lazy, 
that I must be more energetic.” 

“ I’ve been ordering a new carriage to-day. The old 
one was hardly worth repairing. And when you are 
stronger I think I’ll buy a gentle pony and we can go 
out riding. You would not be afraid after a little?” 

“ Not with you.” 

Her confidence was very sweet. 

“ I’m going down to tea to-night. I was down at 
noon.” 

“ Oh, you are improving. I hope there will come 
some warm weather and balmy airs.” 

“ It was beautiful last spring. You know I never 
saw a real spring before.” 

She was bearing her loss and her sorrow beautifully. 
All day she had been thinking of the joy of those two 


140 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


when they met on the confines of that beautiful world. 
It made heaven seem so near, so real. Sometimes the 
tears came to her eyes. She was Cousin Chilian’s lit- 
tle girl, so why should she feel lonely ! 

Once in a number of years spring comes early. It 
did this time, at the close of the century. People shook 
their heads and talked about “ weather-breeders,” and 
mentioned snow as late as May, when fruit trees 
had been in bloom. But nature had turned over a 
bright, clear leaf, that made the book of time fairly 
shine. 

The carriage came and Cynthia was taken out. 
Miss Elizabeth wrapped her up like a mummy, and 
would put a brick, swathed in coverings, in the bottom 
for her feet. He had taken the ladies out occasionally, 
but of late years the sisters had been so busy they had 
little time for pleasure, they thought. 

They crossed North Bridge and went up Danvers 
way. Oh, how lovely it was with the trees in baby 
leaf, and some wild things blossoming. And even 
then industry had planted itself. There on the farther 
bank of Waters River was the iron mill, where Dr. 
Nathan Read invented his scheme for cut nails. And 
he built a paddle-wheel steamboat that was a success 
before Robert Fulton tried his. And they passed the 
Page house, where General Gage had his office, and 
Madam Page had tea on the roof, because they had 
promised not to use tea in the house. 

That amused Cynthia and he also told her of the 


SORROW’S CROWN OF SORROW 


141 

woman, when tea first came to the country, who boiled 
the leaves and seasoned them, passing them around to 
her guests, who didn’t think they were anything much 
in the vegetable line and too expensive ever to become 
general. 

Birds sang about them, flocks of wild geese had 
started on their northward journey. What a wonder- 
ful world it was ! And her father had been a boy here 
in Salem village, had lived in Cousin Chilian’s house 
in the father’s time, and her mother had been married 
in the stately parlor. Why, she could dream of their 
being real guests of the place. How odd she should 
come to live here. The life in India would be the 
dream presently. 

She was very tired when Chilian lifted her out of 
the carriage and took her upstairs. Rachel put her 
to bed for a while and gave her a cup of hot tea — 
mint and catnip — which was a great restorer, or so 
considered, in those days. She came down to supper 
and was quite bright. 

Every day she improved a little. Eunice said she 
was getting ’climated. 

Elizabeth wondered if she had any deep feeling. 
She had expected to see her “ take on ” terribly. Chil- 
ian begged her not to disturb the child’s faith that 
both parents were in heaven. 

“ Letty Orne, that was, might have been one of the 
elect, but sea captains are seldom considered safe in 
the fold, as children of grace. I never heard that he 


142 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


had any evidence. And ’tisn’t safe to count on meeting 
them unless you’ve had some sign.” 

“ We must leave a good many of these things to 
God. His ways are better than our short-sighted 
wisdom.” 

Elizabeth was never quite sure of Chilian. So much 
study, and reading, and college talk, and the new 
theories, and what they called discoveries, were enough 
to unsettle one’s faith, and she feared for him. 
Younger children than Cynthia had gone through the 
throes of conviction — she had herself, and she longed 
to see her in this state. 

But the child was quite her olden self. What with 
the change of climate and her illness she was many 
shades fairer, and her hair was losing its queer sun- 
burned color. Her thin frame began to fill out, her 
face grew rounder, and her smile was sweetness itself. 

“ But she hasn’t grown a mite since she came. Lev- 
erett people are all of a fair size. I don’t know a little 
runt among them,” persisted Elizabeth. 

“ I wish I could grow,” she sighed in confidence to 
Chilian. 

“ Never mind. Then you will always be my little 
girl,” he would answer consolingly. 


CHAPTER IX 


LESSONS OF LIFE 

Even Chilian wondered that the little girl took the 
death of her father so calmly. Elizabeth called it un- 
natural and questioned whether the child had any deep 
feeling. 

“ I don’t believe she’s shed a tear. And, Eunice, the 
child ought to go in black.” 

The child was trying to get used to changed ideas. 
If her mother was glad and happy, now that they were 
again united, why should she be sorry? It seemed 
selfish to her as if she grudged them the joy. And 
Cousin Chilian was trying every way to entertain her, 
to help her on to perfect recovery. Sometimes, when 
she sat alone in the study, the soft eyes would over- 
flow and the tears course silently down her cheeks. 
She never cried in the tempestuous way of some chil- 
dren. But she knew now she had counted a good deal 
on their having a home together. Rachel would keep 
the house and she and her father would take walks 
and have a garden, where she could cut flowers and 
have them in the house. Cousin Elizabeth said they 
made a litter. And now she should never go down to 
the wharf and see him standing on the deck, and wave 
i43 


M4 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


her hand to him, as she used when he went on short 
journeys in India. They would have a low carry-all 
and ride around, as she would tell him all she had 
learned about Salem. And they would have people 
in to drink tea and have pretty dishes on the table. 
Perhaps he would give her a party. But she didn’t 
know any children, except the Uphams. It might be 
better to go to school so that she could get acquainted. 

Chilian was a good deal startled about the black 
garments. 

“ She is so little and thin,” he objected. “ I never 
did like children in black; it seems as if you weighted 
them down with woe. And he has been dead so many 
months now.” 

“ But one ought to pay decent respect to a custom 
sanctioned by all civilized people. There will be a talk 
about it. Folks may think it our fault.” 

“ I do not believe half a dozen people would notice 
it. It’s only a custom after all. I never did like it. 
We will see how she feels about it.” 

“ Chilian, you make that child of as much impor- 
tance as if she was a woman grown. You will have 
your hands full by and by. She will think every 
one must bow down to her and consult her whims and 
fancies.” 

“We will see;” nodding indifferently. 

He didn’t want her around in garments of woe. 
Very gently he mentioned the subject. 

She glanced up out of sweet, entreating eyes. “ She 


LESSONS OF LIFE 


MS 

had been standing by him, looking over a very choice 
book of engravings. 

“ Yes,” she returned. “ Rachel spoke of it. And 
you know there are some people who wear white, and 
some who put on yellow. Black isn’t a nice color. 
Do you like it?” 

He shook his head. 

“ It is the inside of me that aches now and then, 
when I think I shall never see him come sailing back, 
that I must be a long while without him until I go to 
their land. But he must be very happy with mother, 
and that is what I think of when I feel how hard it 
is ; ” and the tears stole softly down her cheeks. “ I 
have Rachel and you, and he said you would always 
love me and care for me. But I try not to feel sorry, 
and if I had on a black frock I couldn’t help but think 
of it all the time. Then I should be sorry inside and 
outside both, and is it right to make yourself unhappy 
when you believe people have gone to heaven ? ” 

She said it so simply that he was deeply moved. She 
had been alone with her sorrow all this time, when 
they had thought her indifferent. 

“ You need not wear black — I wish you would not. 
I want you to get real well and happy. And you are a 
brave little girl to think of them and refrain from 
grief.” 

She wiped away the tears lest they should fall on 
the book. 

“ At first it was quite dreadful to me. I couldn’t 


i 4 6 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

say anything. Then I remembered how we used to 
talk of mother, as if she was only in the next room. 
And then I sit here and think, when the sky is such 
a splendid blue and there come little white rifts in it, 
as if somewhere it opened, I can almost see them. 
Can’t people come back for a few moments ? ” 

“ Only in dreams, I imagine.” 

“ I can almost see them. And they are so glad to 
be together. And I know father says, ‘ Cynthia will 
come by and by.’ But twenty years, or thirty years, is 
a long while to wait.” 

Perhaps she wouldn’t need to wait so long, he 
thought, as he noted the transparent face. 

“ And now I should be sorry to go away from you,” 
she said, with grave sweetness. 

“ I think your father meant you should stay a long 
while with me when he gave you to me ; ” and he 
pressed her closer to his heart. 

So she did not wear mourning, to Elizabeth’s very 
real displeasure. There was no further talk about the 
school, but she did try to sew a little and began the 
sampler. Cousin Eunice was her guide here. She 
brought out hers that was over fifty years old, and all 
the colors were fading. 

“ I wonder if I shall live fifty years,” she mused. 

Driving about was her great entertainment. You 
could go to Marblehead, which was a peninsula. 
There were the fishery huts and the men curing and 
drying fish. Sometimes they took passage in one of 


LESSONS OF LIFE 


*47 

the numerous sailing vessels and went in and out the 
irregular shore, and saw Boston from the bay. It 
seemed in those times as if it might get drowned out, 
there was so much water around it. 

“ And if it should float off out to sea, some day,” 
she half inquired, laughingly. 

He was glad to hear her soft, sweet laugh again. 

She thought she liked Salem best, and even now peo- 
ple began to talk of old Salem, there had been so many 
improvements since the time Governor Bradford had 
written : 

“ Almost ten years we lived here alone, — 

In other places there were few or none ; 

For Salem was the next of any fame 

That began to augment New England’s name." 

And then it went by the old Indian name and was 
called Naumkeag. And she found that it was older 
than Boston, and had been the seat of government 
twice, and that Governor Burnett, finding Boston un- 
manageable, had convened the General Court here for 
two years. That was in 1728, and now it was 1800. 

“ But no one lives a hundred years,” she said. 

“ Oh, yes ; there are a number of persons who have 
lived that long. Now and then a person lives in three 
centuries, is born the last year of one, goes through a 
whole century, and dies in the next one.” 

“ What a long, long while ! ” she sighed. 

And there was the old Court House where the 
Stamp Act was denounced. She wanted to know all 


14S A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

about that, and he was fond of exlaining things, the 
sort of teacher habit, but there was nothing dogmatic 
about it. Here were houses where the Leveretts had 
lived, third or fourth cousins who had married with 
the Graingers, and the Lyndes, and the Saltonstalls, 
and the Hales. It is so in the course of a hundred 
or two years, when emigration does not come in to 
disturb the purity of the blood. 

The little girl really began to improve. Her hair 
was taking on a brighter tint and in the warm weather 
the uneven ends curled about her forehead in dainty 
rings, her complexion was many shades fairer, her 
cheeks rounded out, and her chin began to show the 
cleft in it. She was more like her olden self, quite 
merry at times. 

The summer went on as usual. Gardening, berry- 
picking, and she helped with the gooseberries, the 
briery vines she did not like. There were jars of jam 
and preserves, rose leaves to gather, and all the morn- 
ings were crowded full. Often in the afternoon she 
went up in the garret to see Miss Eunice spin — some- 
times on the big wheel, at others with flax on the small 
wheel. She liked the whirring sound, and it was a 
mystery to her how the thread came out so fine and 
even. 

Elizabeth had taken the white quilt out of its wrap- 
pings, it did not get finished the summer before. A 
neighbor had let her copy a new pattern for the border 
that had come from New York. And she heard there 


LESSONS OF LIFE 


149 

had been imported white woven quilts with wonderful 
figures in them. 

“ Then one wouldn’t have to quilt any more. 
Shan’t you be glad, Cousin Elizabeth ? ” 

“ Glad ! ” She gave a kind of snort and pushed the 
needle into her finger, and had to stop lest a drop of 
blood might mar the whiteness. “ Well, I’m not as lazy 
as that comes to, and I don’t see how they can put much 
beauty in them. You can change blue and white and 
show a pattern, but where it is all white! Why, you 
couldn’t tell it from a tablecloth.” 

It was warm up in the garret, and what with drying 
herbs, and the sun pouring on the shingles, there was 
a rather close, peculiar air. Cynthia stood by the open 
window, where the sweet summer wind went by, laden 
with the fragrance of newly cut grasses and the silk of 
the corn that was just tasselling out. The hills rose up, 
tree-crowned; white clouds floated by overhead, and 
out beyond was the great ocean that led to other coun- 
tries — to India she thought of so often. 

Oh, how the birds sang! She was so sorry Cousin 
Eunice had to sit and spin, when there was such a 
beautiful world all around, and Cousin Elizabeth 
pricked her fingers quilting. She heard her sigh, but 
she did not dare look around. She had that nice sense 
of delicacy, rather unusual in a child. But then she 
wasn’t an everyday child. 

“ Cynthia,” called Rachel from the foot of the stairs, 
“ don’t you want to go out for a walk ? They’ve been 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


1 5 © 

unloading the Mingo , and they have a store of new 
things at the Merrits’.” 

That was the great East India emporium. 

“ Oh, yes ! ” She skipped across the floor and ran 
downstairs lightly. 

“ That child’s like a whirlwind,” exclaimed Eliza- 
beth crossly. 

“ But we ought to be glad she’s so much better. I 
was really afraid in the spring we wouldn’t have her 
long.” 

“ Oh, the Leverett stock is tough.” 

“ But her mother died young.” 

“ Of that horrid India fever. No, I didn’t truly 
think she would die. If she had, I wonder where all 
the money would go? Chilian is awful close-mouthed 
about it. But it would have to go somewhere. ’Tisn’t 
at all likely he’d leave word for it to be thrown back 
in the sea.” 

“ No; oh, no” 

“ There’s some talk about missionaries going out 
to try to convert the heathen. But Giles thinks it 
would cost more than it would amount to. Giles has 
got way off ; seems to me religion’s dying out since 
they’ve begun to preach easy ways of getting to heaven 
and letting the bars down here and there. There’s no 
struggle and sense of conviction nowadays; you just 
take it up as a business. And that child talks about 
heaven as if she’d had a glimpse of it and saw her 
father and mother there. Letty Orne was a church 


LESSONS OF LIFE 


* 5 * 

member in her younger days, but I don't believe the 
captain ever was. And they who don't repent will 
surely perish." 

Eunice sighed. She could never get used to the 
thought that thousands of souls were brought into the 
world to perish eternally. 

Cynthia tied on her Leghorn hat. It did have some 
black ribbon on it, and the strings were passed under 
her chin and tied at one side. That and her silken 
gown gave her a quaint appearance, rather striking 
as well. 

They walked down the street and turned corners. 
There was quite a procession of ladies bound for the 
same place. If they had been all buyers, Mr. Merrit 
would have made quite a fortune. But he was glad 
to have them come. They would describe the stock 
to their neighbors, and perhaps decide on what they 
wanted for themselves. 

“ Ah, Miss Winn ! ” exclaimed a pleasant-faced 
woman. “ And that is Captain Leverett’s little girl ? 
Why, she looks as if she was quite well again. We 
heard of her being so poorly. I suppose the shock of 
her father's death was dreadful! Poor little thing! 
And she's to be quite an heiress, I heard. What are 
they going to do with her? Won’t she be sent to Bos- 
ton to school? " 

“ Oh, I think not. Mr. Leverett has been teaching 
her a little." 

They had fairly to elbow their way in. Long 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


* 5 2 

counters were piled with goods. Silks, laces, sheerest 
of muslins embroidered beautifully, lace wraps, India 
shawls, jewelry, caps, collars, handkerchiefs, stock- 
ings, slippers that were dainty enough for a Cinderella. 

And all down one side were ranged tables, and jars, 
and vases, and articles one could hardly find a name 
for. Such exquisite carving, such odd figures painted 
and embroidered on silk, birds the like of which were 
never seen on land or sea, dragons that flew, and 
crawled, and climbed trees, and disported themselves 
on waves. 

“ Oh, it looks like home,” cried Cynthia, for the 
moment forgetting herself. And she kept sauntering 
round among the beautiful things, her heart growing 
strangely light, and her pulses throbbing with a sort 
of joy. 

She was almost hidden by a great pile of tapestry. 
The Indians had found some secrets of beauty as well 
as France, if they did make it with infinite pains. And 
this was made with the little hand-looms and joined 
together so neatly and the colors blended so har- 
moniously that it was like a dream. Only the little girl 
did not like the dragons and strange animals. She had 
never seen any real ones like them. They were in the 
stories Nalla used to tell. 

Then some one else spoke to Miss Winn. “ Is your 
little charge here ? ” she asked. “ I’m quite anxious to 
see her. I’ve called twice on the Leveretts, and really 
asked for her once when they said she was quite ill. 


LESSONS OF LIFE 


153 


But I saw her out in the carriage with — isn’t it her 
uncle? No? And she’s to be very well to do, I’ve 
heard. The idea of the Leverett women undertaking 
to bring up a child! They’re good as gold and some 
of the best housekeepers in Salem, but I dare say 
they’ll teach her to knit stockings, and make bedquilts, 
and braid rag mats, and do fifty-year-old things — make 
a regular little Puritan of her. I knew her mother 
quite well before she was married. Doesn’t seem as if 
we were near of an age and went to school together. 
But some of the Ornes married in our line. And I was 
married when I was seventeen, and now I’m a grand- 
mother. How the years do fly on! And she had to 
die out in that heathen land; he too. Wasn’t it odd 
about sending her here beforehand ? I do want to see 
her.” 

“ She is somewhere about, interested in all these 
foreign things.” Miss Winn was not quite sure 
of the chattering woman. She had learned that the 
Leverett ladies were exclusive, whether from inclina- 
tion or lack of time. They asked their minister and a 
few old family friends in to tea on rare occasions, and 
then it was cooking and baking and cleaning up the 
choice old silver and dusting and polishing, and the 
next day clearing up. Everything out of the routine 
made so much extra work. Among the few English- 
speaking people in India there had been a sort of free 
and easy sociability. 

Cynthia meanwhile had slipped around the end of 


i54 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


the counter and came up to them. She wanted to see 
the woman who had been to school with her mother. 
Then her mother was a little girl, perhaps no older 
than she. Did she like it? Cynthia wondered. 

“ This is Captain Leverett’s little daughter/' Rachel 
announced rather stiffly. 

“ My — but you don’t favor your mother at all. I’m 
Mrs. Turner and I knew her off and on. We lived 
about thirty miles above here. Then her folks died 
and she went to Boston, but she used to be at the Lev- 
eretts’ a good deal. I married and came here. I’m 
living up North River way and have a house full of 
children — like steps — and one grandchild, and I’m 
just on the eve of thirty-seven. I’ve one little girl 
about your age, but she’s ever so much bigger. I’d 
like you to be friends with her. The next older is a 
girl, too. Why, you’d have real nice times if the old 
aunties were willing. Do they keep her strict? And 
she’s going to be a considerable heiress, I heard. I 
wonder where her eyes came from? They’re not 
Leverett eyes, and her mother’s were a clear blue, real 
china blue, but then there’s different blues in china,” 
and she laughed. “ Sad about the captain, wasn’t it ? 
He should have lived to enjoy his fortune, and now his 
little girl will have it all. I must come and scrape 
acquaintance for the sake of my girls. You’d like 
them, I know, they’re full of fun. We’re not strait- 
laced people — that’s going out of date.” 

Then she passed on. They wandered about a little 


LESSONS OF LIFE 


155 


more among the vases and jars and the paintings on 
silk. The air was heavy with sandalwood, and attar 
of rose, and incense. The fragrance seemed never to 
die out of those old things that became family heir- 
looms. 

“ Gome,” Rachel said, taking her by the hand. It 
was quite late in the afternoon now, and the shadows 
of everything were growing longer. She could not un- 
derstand why it was at first, but now she knew. And 
the sun would be round there in Asia presently. In 
her secret heart she still believed the sun went round 
and the earth stood still, for in the movement people 
must slip off. But then what held it in the air? 
Cousin Chilian had a globe, but you see there was a 
strong wire through the middle, fastened to the frame 
at both ends. Perhaps the earth was fastened some- 
where ! She liked to make it revolve on its axis, and 
in imagination she crossed the oceans, and seas, and 
capes, and found her father again. 

The stage had just come in. They paused on the 
corner, waiting for Cousin Chilian. Some one was 
with him — yes, it was Cousin Giles Leverett. 

“ Well, little woman,” he began, “ so I find you out 
here meandering round, and so much improved that I 
hardly know you. We were afraid in the winter you 
were going to slip away and leave all this fortune be- 
hind you, never having had a bit of good of it. But 
you look now as if you had taken a new lease. And 
you are positively growing ! ” 


156 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

Chilian smiled at the remark. He had begun to 
think so himself. And she looked so pretty just now 
with the pink in her cheeks and the soft tendrils of hair 
about her forehead, the eager, luminous eyes. He 
reached out and took her hand. 

“ Have you been inspecting old Salem, and did you 
find any queer things ? ” Cousin Giles asked. 

“ Oh, there was a great shipload of goods from 
India and it seemed almost as if you were walking 
through the booths at home, only there were no natives 
and no beggars or holy men ” 

“ Tut ! tut ! child ; they are not holy men who are 
too lazy to move and waiting for other people to fill 
their mouths. If they were here we’d make them 
work or they’d have to starve. They’re talking about 
missionaries being sent out to convert them. I heard 
a rousing sermon on Sunday, but it didn’t loosen my 
purse-strings. Your greatest missionary is work, 
good hard labor, clearing up and planting. Suppose 
those old Mayflower people had sat down and held out 
their hands for alms. Do you suppose our Indians 
would have filled ’em with their corn, and fish, and 
game? Not much. They’d tied ’em to a tree and set 
fire to ’em.” When Cousin Giles was excited he made 
elisions of speech rather unusual for a Boston man. 
“ They went to work and cut down trees, and built 
houses, and raised farm and garden truck, and made 
shoes and clothes, and roads and bridges, and built 
cities and towns, and shamed those countries thousands 


LESSONS OF LIFE 


*57 

of years old. And now we’re trying to help them 
by bringing over their goods and selling them.” 

“ And creating extravagance, Elizabeth would say,” 
returned Chilian, with a sort of humorous smile. 

“ Oh, you might as well keep the money going as to 
hoard it up in an old stocking, so long as it is honestly 
yours. We’re getting to be quite a notable country, 
Chilian Leverett.” 

They turned into Derby Street, and Cousin Giles 
paused to survey the garden. 

“ You’ve lots of things to enjoy here,” he said. “ I 
don’t know but it’s a sensible thing to take the good 
of what you have as you go along. And little Miss 
here will have enough without your adding to the 
store. You men of Salem ought to begin to do some 
big things — build a college.” 

“ Oh, I think our young men would rather go to 
Harvard. We don’t want to rival you. We shall be 
the biggest New England seaport. We’ll divide up the 
glories.” 

Elizabeth was so taken by surprise that she was 
rather cross. She liked things planned beforehand. 
Now the tablecloth must come off. This one had been 
on since Sunday and it had two darns in it. And the 
old silver must come out. 

“ I don’t believe Cousin Giles would ever notice,” 
Eunice said. “ And I do think the china prettier than 
that old silver.” 

“ Well, it has the crown mark on it and the Lev- 


158 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

eretts owned it before they came from England. Giles’ 
folks had some of it, too, but the Lord only knows 
what he’s done with his. I dare say servants have 
made way with it, or banged it out of shape. Any- 
body can have china. Come, do be spry, Eunice.” 

Cynthia went upstairs and had her hair brushed and 
a clean apron put on, though the other was not soiled. 

“ Rachel, what is an heiress ? ” she asked. 

“Why — some one, a woman, who inherits a good 
deal of money.” 

“ Does she have to wait until she is a woman ? ” 

“ Why, no. Yes, in a way, too. She can have the 
money spent upon her, but she can’t have it herself 
until she is twenty-one.” 

Cynthia wondered how it would seem to go and 
spend money, buy ever so many things. But she really 
couldn’t think of anything she wanted, unless it was a 
house of her very own, and books, and pretty pictures, 
not portraits of old-fashioned men and women. And 
a pony and a dainty chaise. But then — she was such 
a little girl, and she wouldn’t want to leave Cousin 
Chilian. 

Elizabeth made delicious cream shortcake for sup- 
per. Cousin Giles said everything tasted better up 
here, perhaps it was the clear salt water. There were 
so many fresh ponds and streams around Boston. But 
there were big plans for drainage and for docking 
out. Then Elizabeth was such a fine cook. 

The two men sat out on the stoop in the summer 


LESSONS OF LIFE 


*59 


moonlight and Cynthia thought Cousin Giles really 
quarrelled trying to establish the superiority of Boston. 
Then they talked about investments and Captain Lev- 
erett, and Giles said, “ Cynthia will be one of the rich- 
est women of Salem. Chilian, you’ll have to look sharp 
that some schemer doesn’t marry her for her money.’' 

“ You must come to bed, Cynthia,” declared Rachel. 
Through the open window they could hear Cousin 
Giles’ voice plainly. 

The men went the next morning to consider an in- 
vestment Chilian had in view. It had been thought 
best to divide the sums coming in between Salem and 
Boston. Then they walked about and saw the im- 
provements, the new docks being built to accommodate 
the shipping, the great fleet of boats, the busy ship- 
yard, the hurrying to and fro everywhere. It was not 
merely finery, but spices and articles used in the arts. 
Gum copal was brought from Zanzibar. Indigo came 
in, though they were trying to raise that at the South. 

And when Giles saw the new streets and fine houses, 
and Mr. Derby’s, that was to cost eighty thousand 
dollars, he did open his eyes in surprise. Though he 
said rather grudgingly: 

“ It’s a shame for one little girl to have all that 
money. There should have been three or four chil- 
dren. Fifty years ago the Leveretts had such big 
families they bid fair to overrun the earth, and now 
they’ve dwindled down to next to nothing. Chilian, 
why don’t you marry ? ” 


160 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

“ The same to yourself. Are you clinging to any 
old memory ? ” 

“ Well, not just that. I don’t seem to have time. 
Now you are a fellow of leisure. Get about it, man, 
and hunt up a wife.” 


CHAPTER X 


A NEW DEPARTURE 

Cynthia Leverett was making great improve- 
ment in every respect. She was no longer the thin, 
wan little thing that had come from India. She had 
outgrown her clothes, which was a good sign, Eunice 
said. 

Elizabeth made a stand for good wearing ginghams 
and plain cloths for winter. 

“ There's that gray cloth of mine that’s too nice to 
hack around for every day. I could have it dyed, I 
suppose, but I’ve two nice black stuff dresses beside 
my silk, and that other one Chilian gave me that must 
have cost a sight of money ; it’s thick enough to almost 
stand alone. I can’t bear those sleazy stuffs that come 
from India. But I’ve wished more than once that I 
had the money it cost, out at interest. And the 
cloth ” 

“ It isn’t a very pretty color,” ventured Eunice tim- 
idly. 

“ What does that matter for a child ? It won’t show 
dirt easily. And it is settled that she is going to 
school, I’m thankful to say.” 

161 


162 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


The dress in question was not a clear, pretty gray, 
but had an ugly yellow tint. 

“ She certainly is rich enough to buy her own 
clothes, or have them bought for her. Fd dip that 
dress over a good deal darker brown. You know 
Chilian didn’t like it for you, and he will not for 
her.” 

Eunice was amazed at her own protest. The child 
had always been prettily attired. And more attention 
was being paid to children’s clothes she noticed in 
church on Sunday, and after she had indulged in such 
sinful wanderings, she read the chapter in Isaiah where 
the prophet denounced the “ round tires like the moon, 
the bonnets and the head bands, the mantles, and wim- 
ples, and crisping pins, and changeable suits of ap- 
parel,” and other vanities, and predicted dire punish- 
ments for them. 

Mrs. Turner had called according to her proposal. 
She brought her little daughter Arabella, commonly 
called Bella. Cousin Chilian was out in the garden 
with Cynthia, and received her with his usual kindly 
cordiality, inviting them to walk into the house. The 
parlor shutters were tightly closed, and Mrs. Turner 
abhorred state parlors. Hers was always open, for 
guests were no rarity. 

“ Why can’t we sit out here a spell ? It is so delight- 
ful to have this garden in view. And your clematis is 
a perfect show. Then let the children run around and 
get acquainted. How are the ladies ? ” 


A NEW DEPARTURE 


163 

She seated herself on the bench at the side of the 
porch. 

“ I will call them,” he said. “ But — hadn’t you bet- 
ter walk in ? ” 

“ Oh, we can’t stay very long. I’ve been waiting for 
the ladies to return my last call, but we were down in 
this vicinity, so I stopped. You see, I don’t always 
stand on ceremony. And we have been so interested in 
your little girl. I saw her in Merrit’s with Miss 
Winn.” 

He summoned the ladies, and then he returned to 
the guests. The children were both down the 
path — Bella talking and gesticulating, and Cynthia 
laughing. 

Mrs. Turner was in nowise formal. She talked of 
Mr. Turner’s business — he was a shipbuilder — of the 
rapid strides Salem was making; indeed one would 
hardly know it for old Salem of the witch days. And 
people’s ideas had broadened out so, softened from 
their rigidity, “ though some of the old folks are think- 
ing the very trade we are so proud of is going to ruin 
our character and morals, and fill us with pride and 
vanity. But I say to Mr. Turner the people did 
their hard work and bore their deprivations bravely all 
through the Revolution, and we can’t go back and 
make their lot easier by depriving ourselves of com- 
forts, or even pleasures.” 

There might be some casuistry in that, but there 
was truth as well. 


164 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


Then he asked if she knew of any nice schools for 
girls. Where did hers go? 

“ Oh, to Madam Torrey’s. That’s up Church Street. 
Maybe it would be too far in bad weather, though our 
girls don’t mind it. Alice is thirteen, but she’s been 
there since she was eight, and Bella has been going 
these two years. The boys are at the Bertram School, 
and your neighbor Bentley Upham goes there. He’s 
a nice boy. But Madam Torrey is a fine woman. She 
has an assistant, and a woman comes in to teach the 
French class. Then — I don’t suppose everybody will 
approve of this, but there is going to be a dancing- 
class out of school hours, yet no one is compelled to 
send their children to that. There’s fine needlework, 
too, and fancy knitting, indeed about all that it is 
necessary for a girl to know. And the children are 
all from good families; that is quite an important 
point.” 

“ I think I must walk over and see her.” 

“ Do. I am sure you will be pleased. The walk 
will be the only objection. Isn’t she delicate ? ” 

“ She wasn’t well last winter. She took a cold. She 
was not used to our bleak winters. And there was 
her father’s death. She had counted so much on his 
return.” 

“ It was very sad. She looks well now.” 

Then the ladies made their appearance. Elizabeth 
apologized for Chilian not asking her into the parlor. 
“ It looked inhospitable.” 


A NEW DEPARTURE 165 

“ It was my fault. The stoop was so tempting. A 
shady porch in the afternoon is a luxury. We take our 
sewing out there; that is, Alice and I, and sometimes 
the guests. How lovely your vines are! And your 
garden is a regular show place, quite worth coming 
to see if there were no other charm. And, Miss Lev- 
erett, I hear you have been making the most beautiful 
white quilt there is in Salem.” 

“ Oh, no. But as nice as any. And it was a sight 
of work. I don’t know as I’d do it again. I’ve no 
chick or child to leave it to.” 

“ May I come over some day and see it? Not that 
I shall do anything of the kind. With four big boys 
to mend for and the two girls, I have my hands 
full.” 

Then they talked about putting up fruit and making 
jellies, and Mrs. Turner said she must go over to the 
Uphams. She heard that Polly was getting to be such 
a nice, smart girl, and had worked the bottom of her 
white frock and a round cape to match. Then she 
called Bella. 

“ Oh, can’t I go over with them ? ” pleaded Cynthia. 

Cousin Chilian nodded. Elizabeth rose stiffly and 
went in. Eunice pulled out her knitting. It was so 
lovely here. There were the warmth and perfume of 
summer and the rich fragrance of ripening fruits and 
grass mown for feed, not snipped with a lawn-mower, 
such things had not been heard of even in the rapidly 
improving Salem. 


1 66 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

“ There are some countries where people live out of 
doors nearly all the time,” began Eunice reflectively. 
“ Well, they do a good deal in India. But I think this 
is in Europe. And this is so lovely, so restful. But 
I’m afraid you have affronted Elizabeth by not insist- 
ing Mrs. Turner should walk into the parlor. Though 
really — we had not returned her last call. I do wish 
Elizabeth could find some time to get out. I don’t see 
why there should be so much work.” 

“ Couldn’t you have some one to help? ” 

“ Well, it isn’t just the cooking and kitchenwork. 
And no one could suit her there. She’s up in that old 
garret toiling, and moiling, and packing away enough 
things to furnish an inn. We shall never want them. 
And there’s your mother’s, and some of your grand- 
mother’s, blankets.” 

“The New England thrift is rather too thrifty 
sometimes,” he commented dryly. 

Cynthia staid after Mrs. Turner made her adieus. 
Indeed, as it was nearing supper-time, he walked over 
for her. She and Betty were in the wide-seated swing 
and Ben was swinging them so high that Betty, used 
as she was to it, gave now and then little squeals. 
Chilian held up his hand and Ben let the “ cat die,” 
which meant the swing stopping of itself. 

“ Oh, Mr. Leverett, can’t Cynthy stay to tea ? I’ll 
run and ask mother.” 

“ Not to-day. She had better come home now.” 

“ Oh, dear ! ” cried Bentley disappointedly. 


A NEW DEPARTURE 167 

“ Yes, I had better go. And Fve had such a lovely 
time. Cousin Chilian, can't I come over again ? ” 

How pretty she looked with her shining eyes, her 
rosy cheeks, and her entreating lips ! What would she 
coax out of men as she grew older! 

“ Oh, yes ; any time they want you.” 

“ Well, we’d like her every day ! ” cried Ben eagerly. 
“ And isn’t it splendid that she’s grown so well and 
strong, and can run and play, and have good out-of- 
doors times? Though I used to like it in the winter 
up in your room, and Mr. Price said he never knew a 
boy to improve so in Latin.” 

Bentley made a graceful bow to Mr. Lever ett. 

“ Oh,” said Cynthia, skipping along in exuberant 
joy, “children are nice, aren’t they? You can’t have 
much fun alone by yourself, and the days are so long 
when you go in to Boston.” 

“ I wonder if you would like to try school again ? ” 

“ Yes, I think I would ; ” after a pause. “ You see,” 
with a gravity that sat oddly upon her, “ I’m not so 
afraid as I was, and I have more sense. And I know 
things more evenly than I did. I can write now quite 
well, and I know most of the tables, though division 
does bother me. And I can spell all but the very diffi- 
cult words. I don’t think any one would laugh at me 
now.” 

“ No, they wouldn’t,” he answered decisively. 

“ I shouldn’t like little boys, but I wouldn’t mind 
them as big as Bentley. And, oh, I wish we had a 


i68 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


swing. And they have a real sailors’ hammock, such 
as they have on shipboard. It’s delightful under the 
trees.” 

“ I think we can manage that.” 

“ Well, if your head isn’t tousled ! ” cried Elizabeth. 
“ It looks like a brush heap. Get it fixed, for supper is 
all ready. Why didn’t you stay ? ” the last ironically. 

“ Cousin Chilian thought I had better not. They 
did want me to.” 

“ Are you sure they wanted you to ? ” 

“ Why, yes,” she answered in ignorance of the 
sarcasm. 

She walked up and down the garden path with 
Cousin Chilian and asked about the school, was glad 
when she found Bella and her sister Alice went there. 
Now and then she gave two or three skips and pulled 
on the hand she held so tightly. He had never seen 
her in quite such glee, and how charming she was! 

“ Chilian, bring that child in out of the dew. Next 
thing she’ll be in for a winter’s cold,” said the severe 
voice. 

The interview with Madam Torrey was very satis- 
factory. Chilian asked Miss Winn to go out and buy 
what was needed and get it made. They went over to 
Mrs. Turner’s one day and took the school in on their 
way. 

“ When it rains Silas can take you and come for 
you. I think the walk will not tire you out.” 

“ Oh, no ; I don’t get tired out now.” 


A NEW DEPARTURE 


169 

It was Miss Winn’s place to look after the child, of 
course, but Elizabeth felt in some way defrauded. 
She wished Cynthia had been poor and dependent upon 
them. Then she would stand a chance to be brought 
up in a useful manner. 

Chilian took her to school the first morning. Miss 
Winn was to come for her. She had been rather shy 
at first. But Bella Turner told the girls about her, 
how she had been born in Salem, and gone to Calcutta 
when only a few months old, come and gone again in 
her father’s ship, and he was Captain Leverett, and 
then returned to America. He was to come afterward, 
but he had died. And Mr. Chilian Leverett, who was 
something in Harvard College, was her guardian. 
And she was to have ever so much money when she 
was a young lady. 

Any other child might have been spoiled by the at- 
tentions lavished upon her. The girls thought her 
curly hair so pretty, and her hands were so small, with 
their dainty, tapering fingers. Then she found one of 
the girls, Lois Brinsmaid, lived in Central Avenue, so 
there was no further question of troubling any one. 
Cousin Chilian had given her a good foundation for 
study and she was eager for knowledge of all sorts, 
except that of the needle. 

Then autumn began to merge into winter and there 
were storms and bleak winds, and some days she 
staid at home. She caught light colds, but Chilian and 
Miss Winn were very watchful. 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


170 

She went to the Turners one afternoon and staid 
to tea, and the big boys hovered about her like bees. 
She was not forward or aggressive, but there was a 
sort of charming sweetness about her. When she 
raised her lovely eyes they seemed to appeal to every 
heart, though they never went very far with Cousin 
Elizabeth. 

One day she came home and found the house in a 
great state of excitement. Elizabeth had started to go 
down into the cellar with both hands full. She had 
been a little dizzy for several days, and meant to take 
a dose of herb tea, boneset being her great stand-by, 
when she could find time. Whether it was the vertigo, 
or she slipped, she lay there unconscious, and they sent 
for Doctor Prescott. 

Silas and the doctor carried her upstairs, and the 
latter brought her out of the faint. But when she 
started to stand up, she toppled over and fainted again. 

“ There's something quite serious. Let us carry her 
up to her room, and you women undress her. Her 
legs are sound, so the trouble is higher up." 

Then he found her hip was broken, a bad thing at 
any time of life, but at her age doubly so. And he sent 
for Doctor Lapham to help him set it. It was very 
bad. They were still there when Chilian came 
home. 

“ Em afraid she’s laid up for a year or so ; ’’ and the 
doctor shook his head ominously. 

“ Do your very best for her," besought Chilian. 


A NEW DEPARTURE 


171 

He said to Eunice, “ Now you must have some one. 
You can’t carry on the house alone.” 

“ If it is the same to you, Chilian, I’d rather have a 
nurse. There’s Mother Taft, who is good and strong, 
and used to nursing. She’s willing to help about a lit- 
tle, too.” 

“ Just as you think best. I want every care taken 
of her.” 

For a month it was a very serious matter. They 
thought the spine was somewhat injured as well. And 
Elizabeth knew they could never get on without her. 

“ I expect I shall find the house in such a state when 
I do get about, it will take me all summer to right it. 
You never were as thorough as I could wish, Eunice.” 

Miss Winn begged that she might be of service. 
She had so little to do, or to think about, that time 
hung heavy on her hands, now that Cynthia was in 
school. For then school hours were from nine to five. 
And the child was getting so handy caring for herself. 
She curled her hair and put on her clothes, brought 
her shoes down every evening for Silas to black, and 
sometimes wiped the tea dishes while Miss Winn 
washed them. Somehow there didn’t seem so much 
work to do. Eunice didn’t always have two kinds of 
cake for supper, nor a great shelf full of pies for 
Silas to take home. There was plenty of everything 
and no one complained. 

They found Mother Taft invaluable. She was about 
the average height, and had long arms, and strength 


172 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


according. Then she had a most excellent way with 
her. When Elizabeth groaned that they never could 
get on without her, and she must be up and about 
before everything went to “ wrack and ruin,” Mother 
Taft said: 

“ The kitchen looks like a new pin. There’s no signs 
of ruin that I can see. Meals are good, cake fine, 
house clean. When you get downstairs you’ll think 
you haven’t been out of the harness more’n a week.” 
“ A likely story,” Elizabeth moaned. 

Cynthia went through March very successfully, but 
with the first warm spell in April she caught a cold and 
coughed, and Chilian was almost wild about her, his 
nerves having been worn somewhat by Elizabeth’s 
mishap. But after ten days or so she came around all 
right and was eager for school again. 

She was sitting in her old place by the window late 
one afternoon and he had been reading some poems to 
her — a volume lately come from England. 

“ Cousin Chilian,” she said, “ will you tell me what 
true relation we are ? ” 

“ Why, what has put that in your head ? ” 

“ I want to know.” She said it persuasively, 

“ Well, it isn’t very near after all. My father and 
yours were cousins. My father was the son of the 
oldest brother, your father the son of the youngest, 
that stretched them quite far apart. When I wasn’t 
much more than a baby Anthony came to live with us, 
and was like an elder brother to me. Father was very 


A NEW DEPARTURE 


173 


fond of him. But he would go to sea and he made a 
fine sailor and captain. Then he was married from 
here, and you were born here.” 

“ The girls sometimes say, * your uncle/ I wonder 
if you would like to have me call you uncle? ” 

Something in him protested. He could not tell what 
it was, unless an odd feeling that it made him seem 
older. He wished he were ten years younger, and he 
could give no reason for that either. 

“ I think I like the ‘ cousin ’ best ; ” after some delib- 
eration. 

“And it is so lovely to be dear to some one, very 
dear. I like Rachel, she’s been almost a mother to me, 
and I like Cousin Eunice for her sweet ways. But 
I’ve no one of my very own, and so — I’m very glad 
to be dear to you. It is like a ship being anchored to 
something safe and strong.” 

She came and put her arms about his neck and 
kissed him. He drew her down on his knee. She was 
her mother’s child, and her mother had been dear to 
him, his first love, his only love so far. 

Oh, how would the garden get made and the house 
cleaned, the blankets and the winter clothing aired and 
put away, those in use washed? Eunice and Miss 
Winn went up in the garret one day and swept and 
dusted, not giving a whole week to it. 

“ Now,” said Mother Taft, “ I’m going to take a 
holiday off. I’m tired of puttering round in the sick 
room, and she’s so much better now that she doesn’t 


174 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


keep one on the jump. And I’m going to wash them 
there blankets and you can pack them away, so there’ll 
be one thing less to worry about.” 

“ But Silas’ wife would come and do it. And a holi- 
day ! Why don’t you go off somewhere ” 

“ I want to do it.” 

And do it she did. Some way the house did get 
cleaned. “ After a fashion,” Elizabeth said. And the 
garden was made. Chilian and Eunice trimmed up 
roses. Cynthia and Miss Winn planted seeds. There 
were always some things that wintered over — sweet 
Williams, lilies of various sorts, pinks, laurels, some 
spiraeas, snowball and syringas, hosts of lilacs that 
made a fragrant hedge. Cynthia thought it had never 
been so lovely before. She wore a nosegay at her 
throat, and in her belt just a few; she had the fine 
taste that never overloaded. She and Cousin Chilian 
used to walk up and down the fragrant paths after 
supper and no one fretted at them about the dew. 
Sometimes Rachel or Eunice would bring out a dainty 
scarf. And how many things they found to talk about. 
She loved to dwell on the times with her father, and 
it seemed as if she remembered a great deal more 
about her mother than she did at first, but she never 
imagined it was Cousin Chilan’s memory that helped 
out hers. 

She had enjoyed the school very much. There were 
no high up “ isms ” or “ ologies ” for girls in those 
days. She learned about her own country, for already 


A NEW DEPARTURE 


175 


there were some histories written, and the causes that 
led to the war. Some of the girls had grandmothers 
who had lived through those exciting years, and made 
the relation of incidents much more interesting than 
any dry written account that was mostly dates and 
names. What heroes they had been ! And the old 
Mayflozver story and John Alden, and others who were 
to inspire a poet’s pen. 

Then there was the dread story of the witchcraft 
that had led Salem astray. Cousin Chilian would 
never have it mentioned, and had taken away several 
books he did not want her to see. But the girls had 
gone to some of the old places, where witches had 
been taken from their homes and cast into jail, the 
Court House where they had been tried, and Gallows 
Hill, that most people shunned even now. 

One rainy evening, after her lessons had been stud- 
ied, Cynthia went downstairs. Rachel had been fo- 
menting her face for the toothache and was lying 
down. Cousin Chilian had gone to a town-meeting, 
and the house seemed so still that she almost believed 
she might see the ghost or witch of the stories she had 
heard. No one was in the sitting-room, or the kitchen 
proper, but she heard voices in what was called the 
summer kitchen, a roughly constructed place with a 
stone chimney and a great swinging crane. Here they 
did much of the autumn work, for Elizabeth was 
quite a stickler for having a common place to save 
something nicer. 


176 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

Mother Taft always smoked a pipe of tobacco in the 
evening. “ It soothed her,” she said, after her tussle 
of fixing her patient for the night, “ and made her 
sleep better.” 

“And it’s my opinion if Miss ’Lisbeth could just 
have a good smoke at night ’twould do her more good 
than the doctor’s powders.” 

“ Why, Cynthy 1 ” Cousin Eunice exclaimed. 

“ I was lonesome. Rachel’s gone to sleep, Cousin 
Eunice — were there such things as witches over a 
hundred years ago ? ” 

Eunice glanced at Mother Taft. Witchcraft was a 
tabooed subject, yet it lingered in more than one im- 
aginative mind, though few would confess a belief 
in it. 

“ Well, people may talk as they like, but there’s 
many queer things in the world. Now there’s that 
falling sickness, as they call it. Jabez Green has two 
children that roll on the floor, and froth at the mouth, 
and their eyes bulge most out of their heads. They’re 
lacking, we all know. But when they come out of the 
fit they tell queer things that they saw, and I do sup- 
pose it was that way then. They do act as if they were 
bewitched.” 

We know this misfortune now as epilepsy, but medi- 
cal science in the earlier century did not understand 
that, nor incipient insanity. 

“ It was very strange,” said Eunice rather awe- 


A NEW DEPARTURE 


*77 

somely. “ And Mr. Parris was a minister and a good 
man, yet it broke out in his family.” 

“ But he had them slaves, and in their own land 
black people do awful things to each other. But it 
was strange; again, after his wife was accused, Gov- 
ernor Phipps ordered there should be no more pun- 
ished and all set free, and then the thing stopped.” 

“ And it wasn't real witchcraft ? ” said Cynthia. 

“ Well, I wouldn’t undertake to say. There were 
witches in Bible times and they kept themselves mighty 
close, for they were not to be allowed to live. And 
Saul had a hard time getting anything out of the witch 
of Endor, you know, Miss Eunice.” 

Eunice nodded. They were trenching on forbidden 
ground. 

“ My grandmother believed in them and she was a 
good God-fearing woman, too. You see what made it 
worse for Salem was their sending so many here for 
trial from the places round. Grandfather lived way 
up above Topsfield, had a farm there and ’twas woods 
all around. No one troubled them then, but afterward 
— well, they’d cleared the woods and built a road and 
new houses were put up around, for some people were 
glad enough to get out of Salem. There was a woman 
named Martha Goodno, who had been in prison, and 
people were shy of her. Grandmother had two 
cows, and folks turned them out in the woods then. 
One of them went in Martha’s garden, but she spied 


i 7 8 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

her out and drove her off before much damage was 
done. The fence had been broken down and she laid 
it to the cow, but people said it had been down for 
days. Well, something got the matter with the cow. 
She gave good rich milk and mother saved it for but- 
ter. But when she churned there came queer streaks 
in it that looked like blood. She doctored the cow, 
although it seemed well enough. One day a neighbor 
was in and the same thing happened. ‘ Throw some 
in the fire,’ said the neighbor, ‘ and if you hear of any 
one being burned you’ll know who is the witch.’ So 
grandmother threw two dippers full in the fire and she 
said it made an awful smell. The rest she dumped out 
of doors, she wouldn’t feed it to the pigs. About an 
hour afterward another neighbor came in. Grand- 
mother made a salve that was splendid for burns and 
cuts. * Mis’ Denfield,’ she says, 4 won’t you come 
over to Martha Goodno’s and bring your pot of salve. 
She’s burned herself dreadfully drawin’ the coals out 
of the oven, set her dress on fire just at the waist.’ 
So mother went over and found it was a pretty bad, 
sure enough burn, and she was groaning just fit to die. 
Mother spread a piece of linen and laid it on and left 
her some salve. ‘ What did I tell you ? ’ says mother’s 
neighbor, and they nodded their heads. But the queer 
thing was that after that the cow was all right and she 
never had any more trouble. 

“ After she was well she took a spite against another 
neighbor, who used to spin flax and sell the thread. 


A NEW DEPARTURE 


179 


Then her flax took to cutting up queer, and would 
break off, and turn yellow, and trouble her dreadfully. 
Mother was there one afternoon when it bothered so. 
‘ Just throw a handful in the fire/ says mother. 
* Fire’s purifying ; ’ and she did. They sent to mother 
again for salve, for Martha had scalded her right hand. 
Then the folks talked it over and a letter was written 
and tucked under her door, warning her to move, and 
the next-door man bought the place. I’ve heard 
grandmother tell this over — she lived to be ninety, and 
she was a good Christian woman, and she never added 
nor took away one iota. There, I oughtn’t have told 
all this before the child; she’s white as a ghost.” 

“ You must go to bed this minute,” exclaimed Eu- 
nice. “ I’ll go up with you.” 


CHAPTER XI 


THE VOICE OF A ROSE 

There were some marvellous ghost stories in those 
days, and haunted houses as well. The society of 
Psychical Research would have found many queer 
things if it had existed at that time. The sailors spun 
strange yarns over the power we call telepathy now. 
Many of the families had a retired captain or disabled 
first mate, or supercargo, who had seen mysterious 
appearances and heard warning voices. And it re- 
called to the little girl some of the stories she had heard 
in India that she pieced out of vague fragments. 
Maybe there were curious influences no one could 
explain. 

Elizabeth improved a little. She had been moved 
from cot to bed, but now they packed her in a big 
chair and pushed her over to the window where she 
could see the vegetable garden and the chicken yard. 
They had not had very good luck at the hatching this 
season. The hens had missed Elizabeth’s motherly 
care. She had trained them to an amusing habit of 
obedience, and the little chickens were her delight. 
Was she never to be out among them again ? 

180 


THE VOICE OF A ROSE 


1S1 

One day Cynthia came up with two roses in a glass, 
most exquisite ones at that. 

“ Cousin Elizabeth,” she began, “ do you remember 
the little rosebush you put in my garden last summer? 
We thought it would die. It came out beautifully in 
the spring and these are the first roses that bloomed. 
I thought you ought to have them. Are you never 
going to get well enough to walk around the garden? 
Cousin Eunice has kept it so nice.” 

Elizabeth Leverett’s heart was touched and she 
swallowed over a lump in her throat. She had taken 
up the rose from a place where it had been smothered 
with those of larger growth and given it to the child 
who had begged for “ a garden of her very own.” She 
had not supposed it would live. And that Cynthia 
should bring her the firstfruits! 

“ I’m obliged to you,” she returned huskily. “ They 
are very beautiful.” And she wondered the child had 
not given them to Chilian. 

“I wish you liked a few flowers every day,” the 
little girl said wistfully. 

“ Well — I might ; ” reluctantly. 

“ They are so lovely. The world is so beautiful. 
It’s very hard to be ill in summer, in winter one 
wouldn’t mind it so much. But I am glad you can 
sit up.” 

Was it tears that Elizabeth winked away? 

She had many serious thoughts through these 
months of helplessness. She had always measured 


1 82 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

everything by the strict line of duty, of usefulness. 
There was a virtue in enduring hardness as a good 
soldier, and the harder it was the more virtue it held 
in it. Her room was plain, almost to bareness. There 
had been a faded patchwork top quilt at first, until 
Mother Taft insisted upon having something nicer. 
But it had to be folded up carefully at sundown, when 
the likelihood of calls was over. And she did put one 
of the new rugs on the floor. 

“ That’s beginning to go,” Mrs. Taft said. “ Some 
one will catch their foot in it and have a bad fall.” 

“ It could be mended, I suppose.” 

“ Yes. There’s a new one needed in the kitchen. 
I’ll sew it up for that. Land sakes ! you’ve got enough 
in this house to last ten lifetimes ! ” 

Friends came in to sit with her and brought their 
work. Sometimes she sewed a little, but drawing out 
her needle hurt her back after a while. She read her 
Bible and Baxter’s “ Saints’ Rest” And she wondered 
a little what the other world would be like. She had 
never thought of heaven with joy — there was the 
judgment first. And now that she could begin to sit 
up it did prefigure recovery. 

Most schools had kept open all the year round, but 
now the higher ones were giving a month’s vacation. 
Altogether it had been a happy year to Cynthia. She 
had really been adored at school. Her frocks were 
admired, she let the girls curl her hair, usually she 
wore it tied in a bunch behind — not unlike the queue. 


THE VOICE OF A ROSE 183 

Then she had some rings that she coaxed Rachel to 
let her wear, it was such a pleasure to lend them to 
the girls. She was learning what was considered 
necessary for a girl in those days; a good deal more 
with Cousin Chilian. She kept her love for the Latin 
and often read to him. She began to draw and 
paint flowers, she joined the dancing-class, which 
was a delight to her ; but Chilian suggested she 
should not mention it to Elizabeth. She pirouetted 
up and down the path like a fairy, and he loved to 
watch her. 

There had been parties among the girls, but he 
would rather not have her go, it was a bad thing for 
children to be up so late. She went to take tea 
now and then. The Turners were very fond of her 
and the Uphams wanted her once a week. She won- 
dered if she might ever ask any one to tea. 

Then they planned what they would do in this won- 
derful vacation. Go off for day’s rides, take sails up 
and down, there were so many places. She was brim- 
ming over with joy. 

Chilian was called up in the night by Mother 
Taft. 

“ She’s had a stroke. And she seemed so smart 
yesterday. She even laughed over some school stories 
Cynthia told. That child’s brought her flowers every 
morning, and she’s softened so much to her. I really 
think she’s been getting religion, as one may say, and 
being prepared.” 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


184 

Chilian heard the stertorous breathing. The eyes 
were half open and rolled up, her face was drawn. 
He took the hand. It was cold and heavy. 

“ I’ll go for the doctor. I think the end has come.” 

Dr. Prescott said the same thing, adding with a 
slow turn of the head, “ She will not last long.” 

What should he do with Cynthia? He remembered 
how careful her father had been to shield her. She 
must not see Elizabeth, she must not confront death in 
this awesome fashion. 

When they came to breakfast he said : 

“ Cynthia, wouldn't you like to go in to Boston with 
me this morning? ” 

“ Oh, it would be splendid ! ” She clapped her 
hands in delight. 

“ Well, Rachel must get you ready. We will take 
the stage. It goes early now.” 

Of course, she was full of excitement. It had been 
planned as one of the month's outings, but to take it 
as the first! Cousin Chilian was always thinking up 
such nice things. 

“ Oh,” she cried, tying the big Leghorn hat down, 
making a great bow under her chin, “ I must get my 
flowers for Cousin Elizabeth.” 

When she came in she would have flown upstairs, 
but Rachel stopped her. 

“ Miss Elizabeth is asleep. She had a bad spell in 
the night and the doctor doesn’t want her disturbed. 
I’ll take them.” 


THE VOICE OF A ROSE 


*85 

“ Oh! ” She looked disappointed. “ Tell her good- 
bye and that I was sorry not to come in and say it. 
And give her the flowers. I hope she will be better 
to-night.” 

What a great thing it was to go off in the stage! 
It was a fine morning with an easterly breeze. To be 
sure, the roads were dusty, but travellers were not 
so dainty in those days. Cynthia had a dust cloak of 
some thin material that shielded her white frock. 
There were three men and two women. They sat on 
the middle seat, two of the men on front with the 
driver, the other back with the ladies. Presently the 
driver blew a long toot on his horn and they came to a 
little town with a tavern, as they were called then, at 
its very entrance. 

Two of the passengers left, one came in. The horses 
had a drink and on they went over hill and dale, 
through great farms, where there were not more than 
two or three houses in sight. The stage stopped for a 
man who gave a loud halloo, and he climbed in. Then 
the horn gave another loud signal. 

So it went on. Some places were very pretty, great 
fields of corn waving in the sunshine, potatoes, stubble 
where grain had been cut, stretches of woodland, high, 
rather rough hills, then towns again. The sun went 
under a cloud, which made it pleasanter. The pas- 
sengers changed now and then. One woman told 
her next neighbor “ she was goin’ in to Boston to shop, 
because things were cheaper now. She always went 


1 86 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

after the rush was over. There were cambrics, she 
heard, for one and ninepence, and cotton cloth home- 
made was so much cheaper than the imported, but you 
had to bleach it. And little traps that you couldn’t 
get at a country store.” 

Cynthia was tired and sleepy when they reached 
their journey’s end, which was Marlborough Street, 
where Cousin Giles had an office. 

“Well! well! well!” he ejaculated in surprise. 
“ Why, Miss Cynthia Lever ett, I’m glad to see you. 
Have you come to town to shop ? ” 

Chilian made a little sign. “ She has a whole 
month’s vacation and we are going to fill it up with 
journeys, taking Boston first.” 

“ That’s right. We shall have lots to show her. 
You’ll hardly want to go back to Salem. It was a 
long warm ride, wasn’t it? Chilian, take off her hat. 
Don’t you want a drink ? ” 

“ I am thirsty,” she admitted. 

He fixed a glass of lemonade, and lemons were dear 
at that period — scarce, too. While she was sipping it, 
being refreshed in every pulse, the two men went 
down to the end of the room for a talk. 

“ She’s dreadfully disfigured,” Chilian said in a low 
tone. “And Elizabeth wasn’t a bad-looking woman. 
The doctor thinks she can’t live but a few days, her 
body is growing cold rapidly. I’d like to have the child 
out of it all. Death is a great shock and very mys- 
terious to a child.” 


THE VOICE OF A ROSE 187 

“Oh, I’ll be glad to keep her, if she will stay con- 
tent. I wish you could have brought that woman with 
you. Poor Elizabeth! How Eunice will miss her. 
Chilian, you’ve been like a son to those women. 
Women ought to marry and have children of their 
own, but children are not always kind. Yes. After 
you’re rested we’ll go home. I’m going to change my 
office, get nearer to the business centre, only this is so 
pleasant with a nice outlook.” 

“ You ought to retire.” 

“ Oh, what would I do ? Like that Roman fellow, 
buy a farm? I don’t know a bit about farming and 
don’t want to. There’s so much going on here.” 

Presently they returned to the little girl, who was 
quite refreshed, and then they went out, as it would be 
dinner-time presently. Cousin Giles lived in Cambridge 
Street in quite an imposing row, though it had no such 
spacious grounds as at Salem. 

An immaculate black man opened the door and took 
the men’s hats. “ Ask Mrs. Stevens to come down,” 
Cousin Giles said. 

Mrs. Stevens seemed a great lady. Eudora Castle- 
ton’s mother was like this, always looking as if she was 
dressed for a party. She had a pretty silk gown, with 
some ruffles about the bottom, short enough to show 
her clocked silk stockings. The waist was short also, 
the square neck filled in with lace, and great balloon 
sleeves — so large at the top they came almost up to her 


ears. 


1 88 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ This is the little girl who came from India, that I 
told you about, and who is going to be a great lady 
some day. When she gets older we’ll have to have her 
down here to Boston, and give balls and parties for her, 
and pick out a fine lover for her ; hey, Cynthia ? ” 

Cynthia turned scarlet. 

“ I think you must be warm and tired with the long 
stage ride; wouldn’t you like to come upstairs with 
me?” 

Cynthia rose as Cousin Chilian looked approval, and 
followed up the stairway, where her feet sank in the 
carpet. There were several rooms, with the air blowing 
through delightfully, and there was fragrance every- 
where from vases of flowers. 

Mrs. Stevens took off her hat and inspected her. 
She was going to be a big heiress and a pretty girl in 
the bargain, piquant with a slightly foreign look, 
though perhaps it was more in her manner. 

“ Susan,” she called to a girl sewing in the next 
room, “ come and wash this little visitor’s hands and 
face. She has come all the way from Salem this 
morning. I wish we had a fresh frock for you, but we 
have no little girls.” 

The voice was so soft and charming that Cynthia 
looked up with a kind of admiring smile. 

Susan took off her frock, bathed her face and hands 
with some perfumed water, brushed out her hair, and 
said, “ What lovely hair you have, and so much of it. 
A queen might envy you ! ” 


THE VOICE OF A ROSE 189 

The idea of a queen wanting anything she had ! Oh, 
how nice and refreshed she felt. 

Susan shook out the frock and put it on again, 
pulled out the sleeves, smoothed the wrinkled skirt, 
and took her in the next room. 

“ It rests one so much. Are you hungry ? We shall 
have dinner in half an hour.” 

“ Oh, no,” Cynthia said. “ And — and I am very 
much obliged to Susan.” 

“ Come and sit here. Tell me how the aunties are 
— the one with the broken limb.” 

“ I think she isn’t so well. Yesterday she was so 
much improved. The doctor was there this morning.” 

“ Poor lady ! She has been ill a long while. And 
you are quite at home in Salem, I suppose ? You had 
a long journey. Did you like India ? ” 

“ Father was there ; ” with a sweet, attractive sim- 
plicity. “ And some of it was very beautiful. Oh, I 
almost froze the first winter here, but last winter I 
didn’t mind. And the sleigh-riding was splendid.” 

“ Are there many little girls to be friends with ? ” 

“ Oh, I go to a nice school. And we have so many 
funny plays and dancing once a week. I didn’t tease 
about it, though I wanted to go, and Cousin Chilian 
said I might. It’s queer, but in India they come and 
dance for you, and you pay them. But it is lovely to 
do it for yourself ; ” and she made some graceful mo- 
tions with her hands, while her beautiful eyes were 
alight with emotion, as if she heard the music. 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


190 

“ Did you ever want to go back ? ” 

“ At first. But when I heard that father had gone 

away, he had meant to come to Salem, but ” she 

made a pause, “ mother was there in India. Only the 
bodies, you know, the other part that thinks and feels 
is in heaven. He wanted mother so much. He used 
to talk about her. And now I am going to live in 
Salem with Cousin Chilian all my life long.” 

How simply sweet she was, with no self-conscious- 
ness. 

Then they were summoned to dinner. The elegant 
black servant waited on them, and that suggested In- 
dia again. They went out on a back porch and sat in 
the shade. Cousin Giles found an opportunity to ex- 
plain the matter to Mrs. Stevens, and after that the 
men went out for a while. 

Quite in the afternoon there were calls from styl- 
ishly-dressed ladies, and cake and cool drinks were 
brought in. Then Cousin Chilian told her that he 
would like her to stay all night and he would come in 
to-morrow. 

She didn’t want to a bit. “ Why, I would be very 
quiet and not disturb Cousin Elizabeth,” she said, with 
beseeching eyes. 

“ Will you not do it to please me ? ” 

She choked down a great lump. “ Oh, yes,” she 
answered in a low tone, without looking up. But it 
seemed very queer to her to be left this way. 

There was company in the evening — quite a party 


THE VOICE OF A ROSE 


191 

playing cards. She had a pretty story book to read 
until Susan came to put her to bed. And what a de- 
lightful little bed it was, like her little pallet at home, 
so much nicer than the big bed at Salem. 

She would not show that she was homesick, for so 
many nice things were being done for her. A note 
came from Chilian — Cousin Elizabeth was very ill, 
and he hoped she would be content. Some clothes 
were sent for her, some of her very best ones, and 
she was glad to have them. 

There were so many things to see in Boston, really 
much more than at Salem. They were putting up 
some fine public buildings. And there was Bunker 
Hill and Copp’s Hill, and, down near the bay, Fort Hill. 
There seemed little rivers running all about and sub- 
merged lands. 

There were many other entertainments and her days 
were full. Mrs. Stevens sent out some cards and 
seven or eight young girls came in and chatted quite 
like the grown-up ladies, asking her about Salem, and 
being not a little surprised that she had lived in India. 
They had a pretty sort of half tea, cakes and delicacies 
after the thin bread and butter, and a most delightful 
cool drink that seemed to have all flavors in it. One of 
the girls played on the spinet afterward. So she had 
her first party at Cousin Giles’, instead of Salem. 

Notes came from Cousin Chilian, and at last the 
welcome news that he was coming down for her. 

She had come to like Cousin Giles very much. He 


192 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


was so different from Chilian — breezy and rather teas- 
ing — and, oh, what would Cousin Elizabeth have said 
to his fashion of getting things about, putting papers 
or books on chairs, mislaying his glasses and his 
gloves, and she would think the fine furniture, and the 
servants, and the little feasts awfully extravagant. 

Poor Elizabeth! She had never come back to con- 
sciousness. She had shrunk intensely from the last 
moment when she would have to face death and the 
judgment, though she had been striving all her life to 
prepare for it. But God had mercifully spared her 
that, the two worlds had touched and merged with 
each other and left her to God. 

There had been a quiet funeral, though it was well 
attended, but the coffin was closed and a pall thrown 
over it, for the poor face had never recovered its nat- 
ural look. 

All this was softened to Cynthia, as she sat with 
Cousin Chilian’s arm about her. She had the sweet 
remembrance of that last day, and the smile that some- 
how had made the wrinkled face pretty. It had been 
thoughtful and tender in Cousin Chilian to spare her 
the rest. 

They went over to Cambridge and he took her 
through the place that was to be so much grander be- 
fore she was done with life. And here was the house 
where he had lived through the week, going home to 
spend Sundays, for his father was alive then. And he 
told her stories about old Boston, some quaintly funny, 


THE VOICE OF A ROSE 


*93 

but she was rather proud that Salem had been the first 
capital of the State. 

“ Fve had such a nice time,” she said with her adieu. 
“ Every day has been full of pleasure. I thank you 
both very much.” 

She was to come again, and again, they rejoined 
cordially. 

“ What a nice child ! ” Cousin Giles said. “ She 
doesn’t seem to consider what an heiress she is. And 
she’s enough like Chilian to be his own child. He al- 
ways had that dainty way with him, like a woman, 
and everything must be fine and nice, yet he never 
was ostentatious. She’ll make a charming young 
woman. I wish I could persuade Chilian to come to 
Boston.” 

Chilian had driven in with the carriage. There had 
been a shower in the night and the travelling was de- 
lightful. He had missed his little girl so much, yet he 
knew it had been better to save her the poignancy of 
the sad occurrence. So her father had thought in his 
trusting appeal. 


CHAPTER XII 


CHANGES IN THE OLD HOUSE 

There was not as much change in household affairs as 
Cynthia supposed there would be. Elizabeth had been 
laid by so long that her place at the table had been 
filled by Eunice. Indeed, the former had an unfortu- 
nate habit of running out in the kitchen to see to 
something, then returning, pouring a cup of tea, pass- 
ing some article of food, then disappearing again. It 
had grown on her, the belief that she must be every- 
where or something would go wrong. It did annoy 
Chilian. And no one hustled up the dishes when you 
had eaten the last crumb of cake. He liked to linger 
over the table. 

Eunice was very glad to see her. Rachel took her 
wrap and her parcel upstairs, for supper had been 
waiting. Eunice poured the tea, Rachel passed the 
eatables, and they were both eager to hear how it had 
fared with the little girl. 

“It's been just splendid! Mrs. Stevens is — well, 
she is grand, and, oh, you ought to see the beautiful 
gowns she wears; but she doesn’t hold you way off. 
You can come up close and lean on her shoulder or 
her lap. They were both so good. And, look ! Cousin 


194 


CHANGES IN THE OLD HOUSE 


195 


Giles would buy me these two rings ; ” and she held up 
her hand laughingly. “ And an elegant necklace. I 
told him there were so many things here that were'my 
mother’s, but he wouldn’t mind. And slippers ! 
There’s white, and a kind of gray, and a bronze, and 
a red pair. The little girls wear them when they 
come from school and go out to companies. Oh, 
Cousin Chilian, doesn’t any one play on the spinet? 
I’d like to learn.” 

“ It’s very old. It was mother’s. I think we must 
have a new one. And you can learn.” 

“ Oh, I shall be so glad.” 

Mrs. Taft was out in the kitchen. “ Now you all 
go your ways,” she began. “ ’Taint nothing to clear 
off the supper table.” 

They sat out on the front porch. But through the 
talk Cynthia kept thinking of poor Cousin Elizabeth 
and feeling sorry she had not enjoyed more of the 
pleasures of life. Was there so much real virtue in 
making life hard and cold? But there were some 
girls in school who were very much afraid of dancing 
and reading story-books. 

Truth to tell, as Chilian listened, he came to experi- 
ence a queer feeling — he would have scouted the idea 
of jealousy about Cousin Giles, but that he should 
have devoted himself so much to her and taken her 
about, wanted to buy trinkets for her and all that! 
There was still a week of vacation left. They would 
go somewhere to-morrow. 


196 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

He had asked Mrs. Taft to stay with them. 

“ Well, I can’t exactly promise. You see, I like to 
‘ wrastle ’ with things and fight off the worst. 
Though I hadn’t much hope of ’Lisbeth when the 
doctor said her spine was hurt. That’s a kind of queer 
hidden thing that even doctors can’t see into. And 
the poor creature suffered a good deal. My, but she 
was spunky and was bound not to die, and I fought 
for her all I could. But the last few weeks there was 
a change. She liked Cynthy to come in with the posies 
and say something bright. And now it’s all done and 
over, and she was a good upright woman in the old- 
fashioned way. So I’ll stay a spell till Miss Eunice 
gets used to the change, and when I see another good 
fight somewhere, you mustn’t have hard feelings if 
I go.” 

They went out the next morning and found a boat 
going up to Plum Island. It was like going to sea 
to go around Rockport Point. Captain Green de- 
clared “ he wan’t much on passengers, but he had a 
nice cabin and an awning on the for’ard deck, and 
there was a woman and some children whose husband 
living up there had bespoke passage.” 

It was a fine day with the right sort of wind. Oh, 
how splendid it was as they went out oceanward. She 
had been on the water such a very little since her long 
voyage. 

Mrs. Halcom had three children and a baby. She 
was a plain, commonplace body, who had been living 


CHANGES IN THE OLD HOUSE 


197 


up to North Salem, but her folks were Newburyport 
people and she should be glad to get in sight and 
sound of them once again. Chilian had brought a 
book along, Ben Johnson’s Plays, and now and then 
he met with such a charming line or two he must read 
it to her. There were some new poets coming to the 
fore as well, but he knew most of the older ones. Oh, 
he must get back his youth for her sake. Cousin Giles 
was ever so much older. 

She was interested in the ship as well and talked 
to Captain Green. He had so many funny nautical 
terms, provincialisms, that she had to inquire what 
some of the words meant. For most of the early peo- 
ple of New England had not dropped into the careless 
modes of speech that were to come later on and be 
adopted as a sort of patois. They read their Bibles a 
good deal and the older divines, and if their speech 
was a little stilted it had a certain correctness. Then 
Chilian Leverett was rather fastidious in this respect. 

The wind filled the sails and they skimmed along 
merrily. Now the sea was green and so clear you 
could see the fish disporting themselves. Then the 
sun tinted it with gold and threw up diamond, ame- 
thyst, and emeralds, taunting one with treasures. 

There are new names along the coast, though a few 
of the old ones remain. They passed Gloucester, 
Thatcher’s Island, rounded Rockport, where in the 
inside harbor they had to unload part of their cargo. 
Then on to Plum Island, where the rest were set 


198 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

ashore and the woman and her children. Some few 
things were taken on board, but they were to stop at 
Gloucester, going down for the return cargo. 

They walked about a little and bought some ripe, 
luscious dewberries and fruit. 

“ How queer it would be to live on an island and 
have to take your boat when you went anywhere,” and 
Cynthia laughed gayly. 

“ People do, farther up. There are a great many 
islands on the coast of Maine, and fishermen are living 
on them.” 

“ And in Boston Harbor Cousin Giles took us out. 
It’s funny that they don’t float off. Do they go ’way 
down to the bottom of the sea ? ” 

“ I think they must. Sometimes one does disap- 
pear.” 

“ Suppose you were living on it. And you saw the 
water coming up all around you and you couldn’t get 
away ” 

Her eyes filled with a kind of terror. 

“ Oh, you would have some boats.” 

“ But if it happened in the night ? ” 

“ We won’t go and live on an island,” he said with 
a smile. 

It was rougher going back, but not bad enough to 
cause any alarm. The wind had died down, but the 
swells were coming in. They stopped at Gloucester 
and took on some boxes and great planks, and several 
pieces of furniture. 


CHANGES IN THE OLD HOUSE 


199 


“ There’s enough old truck in Salem now,” declared 
Captain Green ungraciously. “ ’F I had my way I’d 
turn it out on the Common and put a match to it. Now 
there’s the Hibbins — came over in 1680 and brought 
their housen goods. There wan’t any way of makin’ 
’em then but just outen rough logs. An’ now the old 
granma’am’s died and ’twas her mother’s, I b’lieve, 
and Mis’ Hibbins she’s just gone crazy over it. And 
they’re buildin’ a fine new house. Strange how 
Salem’s buildin’ up! Those East Ingy traders do 
make lots of money. But before I’d have that old 
truck in my nice new house ! ” And the captain gave 
a snort of disdain. 

He did not dream that before another hundred years 
had passed there would be comparative fortunes made 
in the old truck. 

“ We’ll be a little late gettin’ in, but there’ll be a 
moon. Lucky wind ain’t dead agin us.” 

How good the supper tasted, for Cynthia was very 
hungry. And then they went on and on, hugging the 
shore, the captain said, until it was a kind of shadowy 
waving blur, but on the other side most beautiful. It 
made her think of coming from India, but she was 
glad to see the vague outline of the shore. 

The captain was much surprised that she had been 
such a traveller. He had been to New York and all 
around Long Island, and up as far as Nova Scotia. 
The Bay of Fundy was wonderful, with its strange 
dangerous tides. 


200 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ We will go there another summer,” Chilian said, 
holding her hand, and she returned the soft pressure. 

“ I was ’most afraid something had happened.” Eu- 
nice had gone down the street to meet them. “ But 
it’s clear as a bell and no wind to speak of, and the 
captains of the coasting vessels know every inch of 
the way.” 

“ Only just lovely things happened. It’s been splen- 
did. But I’m hungry again. Can’t I have a second 
supper ? ” 

How different she looked from the little girl who 
had come to him for care and friendship. And he had 
been rather unwilling to accept her. She was growing 
tall, and — yes, really pretty. 

They had one more excursion to Winter Island. 
Why, it seemed as if they were building ships enough 
for the whole world. And there were the fisheries, 
and the curious musical singing, not really words, but 
sort of detatched sounds that floated off in a weird 
kind of way. 

After that school again. She was glad to see the 
girls, and Madam Torrey gave her a warm welcome, 
saying, “ Why, Miss Cynthia, how tall you have 
grown ! ” 

“ I’m very glad,” she said smilingly. “ All the 
Leveretts are tall, but I don’t ever want to be very 
large.” 

“ And she had really been to Boston ! Was it 
so much handsomer than Salem? They had a real 


CHANGES IN THE OLD HOUSE 


201 


theatre, and parties, and balls. Sadie Adams’ big 
sister was going to spend the whole winter there.” 

Chilian Leverett decided to alter his house a little. 
The two rooms at the back had always seemed 
crowded up, though Elizabeth preferred a separate 
one so long as they connected. But he had the memory 
of the poor drawn face, as he had seen it the morning 
of her seizure. Wouldn’t Eunice recall it as well ? 

“ I think I will make some alterations,” he an- 
nounced to her. “ I’ll push that upstairs room out 
over the summer kitchen and make it a good deal 
larger. While they are doing it, Eunice, you had bet- 
ter go over the other side and let Mrs. Taft take your 
room.” 

She assented, though she thought the house and the 
rooms were large enough for the few people in it. 
Cynthia was interested in her studies, and the girls, 
and the new books coming in. For now Sir Walter 
Scott was having a great hearing, and there were some 
new poets. 

It was not expected that people would be at all gay 
when there had been a death in the family, so Cynthia 
felt compelled to decline her few invitations. The new 
room was finished and made much brighter with the 
two added windows. The walls were painted a soft 
gray, with a warm tint. There were yards and yards 
of new rag carpet up in the garret, sewed in bagging 
to keep out moths. Of course, it might as well be 
used. The old bedstead was taken out and though the 


202 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


one substituted was quite as old, it was very much 
prettier, with its carved posts and the tester frame 
from which depended white curtains. Some of the 
other furniture was changed and it made a very pretty 
room, so Eunice came back to it very much pleased, 
though not quite sure so much comeliness was best for 
the soul. 

At Christmas Chilian took the little girl down to 
Boston on a special invitation. There were two vis- 
itors a little older than herself, one whose father was a 
representative from the State, the other from New 
York. 

Washington was not much thought of in those days. 
Other cities had yielded their claims unwillingly, and 
there had been much talk of its being set in a morass. 
Mrs. President Adams had described her infelicities 
very graphically. The rooms were not finished, and 
she took one of the parlors for an adjunct to the laun- 
dry to dry the wash in. New York considered itself 
the great head for fashion and gayety, Boston for edu- 
cation and refinement, and she too, had quite an ex- 
tensive port trade. 

But Giles Leverett thought the little girl from Salem 
was quite as pretty and well bred as Boston girls, and 
really she never seemed at loss now, and was seldom 
overtaken with a fit of shyness. They had a gay, 
happy time, with a regular dancing party, which filled 
Cynthia with the utmost delight. 

And though the winter seemed cold and bleak spring 


CHANGES IN THE OLD HOUSE 


203 


came again, as it always does. Mrs. Taft had gone 
away to another bad case. Eunice and Miss Winn 
kept the house. There had been quite an entertaining 
episode with Miss Winn. A very prosperous man, 
who lived up on the North side, and had a fine house 
and five children, asked her to be his wife, thinking 
she would make such an excellent mother for girls. 
It was supposed at that time that no woman could 
refuse a good offer of marriage. 

“ Consider it well,” said Mr. Leverett. “ I don’t 
know how we could give you up, and, of course, you 
could not take Cynthia. Her father made a generous 
provision for you, and I think he chose wisely for his 
child. But ” 

“ I don’t know that I want to begin over again,” 
and she gave a peculiar smile. “ Five seems quite an 
undertaking when you have had only one. And you 
have taken so much the charge of her.” 

“ But you see, now she will need a woman’s guid- 
ance more than ever. She has outgrown childhood. 
I see the change in her every day. Eunice could not 
supervise her clothes and her pleasures, times have 
changed so much. I want her to be very happy and 
have a life like other girls ” 

She thought she could give up the prospect good as 
it was, won by that persuasive voice. And she had 
come to really love Miss Eunice, who was blossoming 
in a new phase now that there was nothing to restrain 
her natural sweetness. 


204 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ I promised her father to do the best I could for 
her. I love her very much. I enjoy the home here. 
I do not think I could be any happier. And I am so 
used to owning myself that I do not feel disposed to 
give up my liberty. If I had no prospect, I might 
consider it. And Cynthia will need some one as she 
grows older to see that she makes the right sort of 
acquaintances and guide her a little. ,, 

“ Then since all is agreeable we can count on your 
staying. You cannot imagine my own thankfulness ; ” 
and he pressed her hand cordially. 

“ Isn’t it funny ! ” cried Cynthia. “ Why, Margaret 
Plummer goes to Madam Torrey’s, but she is very — 
well, I don’t know just how to describe it, only she said 
once that they would all make the house too hot to 
hold a step-mother. And, oh, dear Rachel, I couldn’t 
bear to have anybody ugly to you. And then you 
know we couldn’t give you up. Cousin Chilian said so, 
and Miss Eunice cried.” 

Miss Winn winked some tears out of her eyes, 
though she tried to smile. It was very comforting to 
a woman without kith or kin to feel so welcome in a 
household. 

Cynthia was sitting on the step of the porch one 
May night when the moon was making shifting shad- 
ows through the trees and silvering the paths. Chilian 
was studying the face, and wondering a little what was 
flitting through the brain that now and then gave it 
such intentness. 


CHANGES IN THE OLD HOUSE 


205 


“ What are you thinking about ? ” he asked. 

“ Oh, Cousin Chilian ! ” She flushed a lovely, rosy; 
glow. “ Building an air castle.” 

“ Is it very airy? So far that it would be a journey 
for another person to reach it?” 

“ Oh, part of it is near by. The other is what could 
be, maybe ; ” wistfully. 

“ Can’t I hear about it?” 

“ Cousin Chilian, why are the parlors always shut 
up, and why don’t you have people coming and going, 
and saying bright things, and talking about the im- 
provements and — and Napoleon and the wars in Eu- 
rope, and the new streets and houses, and, oh, ever so 
many things ? ” 

He looked at the tightly closed shutters. In his 
father’s time there were visitors, discussions, playing at 
whist and loo, and little suppers. She wouldn’t care 
for that, of course. Yet he remembered that she had 
been interested in the talks at Boston. 

“ Why, yes ; the rooms could be opened. Only we 
have grown so at home in the sitting-room, and you 
and I in the study.” 

“ At the Dearborns’ they keep the house all open and 
lighted up, as they do in Boston. And they ask in 
young people and have plays, and charades, and funny 
conundrums ” 

Oh, she was young and should have this kind of 
life. How should he set about it? He must ask Miss 
Winn. But he ventured rather timidly, for a man. 


206 a LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

“ Would you like — well, some girls in to tea ? They 
ask you so often. And there is no reason why we 
should all be hermits.” 

She sprang up and clasped her arms about his 
neck. 

“ Oh, I just should. At first when Cousin Elizabeth 
went away, and the lessons were difficult, and it was 
winter, but now everything seems so joyous ” 

“ Why, yes ; we must talk to Miss Winn about it, 
Cynthia,” and his voice dropped to a tender inflection. 
“ I want you to feel this is your home and you must 
have all the joy and pleasures of youth. You need 
never be afraid. I’ve been a rather dull old fel- 
low ” 

“ Oh, you're not old. You're not as old as Cousin 
Giles, and ever so much handsomer. The girls at 
school think,” she flushed and paused, “ that you were 
so good to get me the pony and the pretty wagon.” 
She was going to say something much more flattering, 
but delicacy stopped her. 

“ My dear,” he said gravely, “ I was glad to make 
you the gift, but I want you to know that there is a 
considerable sum of money of your own, and your 
father wished you to enjoy it. Whatever you want and 
is proper for you to have, I shall be glad to get, and to 
do. For I have no little girl but you.” 

“Would it be wicked and selfish if I said I was 
glad?” 

The arms tightened a little. How soft they were ! 


CHANGES IN THE OLD HOUSE 


207 


And her hair brushed his cheek. It always seemed 
to have a delicate subtle perfume. 

No, dear. You and I are curiously alone in 
the world. I haven’t a first cousin, neither have 
you.” 

“ And a whole houseful of folks is so nice,” she 
said wistfully. 

He had been very well content with his books and 
his college friends. But women were different, at 
least — those who shut out everybody narrowed their 
lives fearfully. 

“We will try and have some.” 

“ And you must like it. If you do not, the greatest 
pleasure will be taken out of it for me.” 

“ I shall like it ; ” encouragingly. 

“ How good you are to me. Father said I must love 
you and obey you, for you would know what would be 
best for me.” 

Then they sat in silence, the contentment of af- 
fection. 

He spoke to Miss Winn the next day. Afterward 
they went into the parlor and opened the shutters. It 
was stately, grand, and gloomy. 

Before Anthony Leverett had thought of sending 
his little girl to his care he had forwarded to Chilian 
a gift “ for old remembrance’ sake,” he said, of a very 
handsome Oriental rug. Floors of the “ best rooms ” 
had been polished until you could see your shadow in 
them. Chilian did not like the noise or the continual 


208 a LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

trouble. So he laid down the rug and bought one for 
the other room. But the heavy curtains, with their 
silken linings, staid up year after year. He noticed 
those at Giles’ house were much lighter and in soft 
colors. And his furniture was not so massive. 

“ I wish we could change things a little. That old 
sofa might go up in the new room. It was grand 
enough in my father’s time, with its borders of brass- 
headed tacks, and its flat, hard seat. Two of these 
chairs might come up in my room.” 

“ I wish we could find a place for the lovely sort of 
cabinet that Cynthia’s father sent over. I keep it 
covered from dust and scratches. She will be glad to 
have it when she has a house of her own.” 

“ One of the rooms ought to be hers — well, both,” 
he added reflectively. 

“ The rugs are elegant. Yes, lighter curtains would 
change it a good deal. How very handsome the man- 
tels are with all their carving.” 

They would have adorned a modern house. They 
went nearly up to the ceiling with small shelves and 
nooks, on which were vases and ornaments such as 
bring fortunes now. 

“ And — about the party ? ” 

“ Oh, that will be only a girls’ tea — her schoolmates 
where she has been. Next year will be time enough 
for the party ; ” with a little laugh. 

So the two spacious rooms were quite remodelled 
and modernized, and the gloomy appearance was a 


CHANGES IN THE OLD HOUSE 


209 

thing of the past. Why shouldn’t he spend his money 
on her ? There was no one else. 

He had not lost sight of Anthony Drayton. The 
father had been exigent. Anthony, being the eldest, 
must take the farm when he was done with it. The 
lad had worked his time out. Cousin Chilian had 
offered him enough to take him to a preparatory 
school where he would be fitted for college. He had 
come in to Boston and Chilian had been attracted to 
the manly young fellow. 

Cynthia was more than delighted with the privilege 
of the tea party. 

“ Some of the girls have brothers, but I don’t know 
them very well. I like Bentley, but he is away at 
school. And I’d rather have just girls.” 

Her admiration of the parlor knew no bounds, and 
it gratified him. 

She had been taking lessons on the spinet, but the 
painting was a great rival. And this was old, thin, 
and creaky. 

“ I have found a much better one in Boston, and the 
dealer wants this because it was made in London in 
1680. How strenuous some people are over old things. 
It has no special interest that I know of, and is com- 
paratively useless.” 

The new ones were really the beginning of piano- 
fortes and this one was very sweet in tone. 

Chilian had been very greatly interested in the 
changes. He began to cultivate his neighbors a little 


210 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


more. Indeed improvements were taking place in the 
town. New streets were laid out, old ones straight- 
ened, fine new houses built. There seemed a sudden 
outburst of commercial grandeur. Furnishings of the 
richest sort were eagerly caught up by the shoppers, 
who did not think it necessary to go to Boston and 
buy goods that had come in port here. Many of the 
old wooden houses were replaced with brick, and the 
beautiful doorways, windows, roofs, and porches still 
attract craftsmen and architects from different sec- 
tions of the country, while illustrators find rich ma- 
terial in old Colonial doorways. 

Miss Winn consulted Mrs. Upham as to what was 
proper for a girls’ tea. 

“ Miss Cynthia is old enough now to begin with 
friends in a simple manner. The family have lived so 
quietly that I have not gained much experience in 
such matters, and Miss Eunice doesn’t feel equal to 
managing it. Of course, Miss Cynthia is quite an 
heiress and will go in with the best people.” 

“ As the Leveretts always have. There’s been 
many a cap set for Chilian Leverett and it’s been a 
wonder to every one that he hasn’t married. But 
there’s time enough yet.” 

She came over and admired the parlors without 
stint. 

“ You see,” she said confidentially, “ Miss Eliza- 
beth was no hand for company. Some of the older 
people did the same, shut up the best rooms lest they 


CHANGES IN THE OLD HOUSE 


2 1 1 


should get faded, or something scratched, or worn. 
And I suppose he kept giving in; then there was his 
going in to college, and that’s a sort of man’s life. 
I’m glad he has had something to stir him up. He has 
been to several town-meetings. They are talking up 
improvements. It’s a fine thing to have so many ves- 
sels flying Salem flags in different ports; nigh on to 
two hundred registered, husband said. But I told 
him there ought to be some home interest as well. We 
must not let Boston get so far ahead of us, nor forget 
the young people are to be the next generation.” 

“ And young people want some pleasure. I do not 
see how they stood so much of the gloomy side twenty 
years ago. I was that surprised when I first came 
here.” 

“ Well, there had been a good many things, and all 
that witchcraft business. Puritan ways grew sterner 
and sterner. I can’t say that people were really the 
better for it, in my way of thinking, and the Saviour 
talked a good deal about loving and helping people. 
He didn’t stop to make them subscribe to all sorts of 
hard things before he worked a miracle. But we were 
going to talk about the tea.” 

“Yes; about what time now? I want Cynthia to 
have it just right and proper; ” laughing. 

“ They come — we’ll say about four. They will want 
to run around and see things, and I’d have supper 
about five and they’ll sit over it, and talk, and laugh. 
Suppose I send my ’Mirny over to pass things and 


212 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


wait. You would not want Miss Eunice to do it, and 
you will have other things on your hands.” 

“ Oh, thank you. You are very kind about it.” 

“ Well, I’ve had a girl to grow up and be married, 
and Polly’s to leave school this summer, and next 
winter she will be setting up for a young lady. Little 
cookies and spicenuts are nice and two kinds of cake. 
You never give them real tea, you know, though it’s 
called a tea party. And some cold chicken, or sliced 
ham. I’d spread the plates of bread, it’s so much less 
trouble. They’ll be sure to enjoy everything. A lot 
of girls always do have a good time.” 


CHAPTER XIII 


A TASTE OF PLEASURE 

Cynthia was full of joy, running down to the gate to 
meet and greet guests. They came in groups of 
twos and threes, having called for each other. There 
were fifteen in all — the girls she knew best, who were 
nearest her own age, and at most of the houses she 
had been made a welcome guest. Indeed, more than 
one mother was glad to have her daughter good 
friends with Miss Cynthia Leverett, who was to be a 
rich young woman, and whose trustee in Boston lived 
in fine style. 

Yet it was not exactly that money was so much 
thought of either, though it was always esteemed an 
excellent thing. Somehow it was rather relegated 
to the men. A father had an idea that his daughters 
would marry well, so business opportunities, and often 
the homestead, went to the sons. Here was an undi- 
vided fortune. And now it was hardly likely Chilian 
Leverett would marry, so she might come in for that. 

The house had always been considered rather 
gloomy, as even on state occasions not much light was 
allowed in the parlors. Some of the girls had been 


213 


2I 4 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

gently advised to notice if there had been changes 
made. 

Cynthia led them upstairs to take off their things. 
They were rather particular about complexions in 
those days. Some of the summer hats were really 
ornate sunbonnets, others were the great poke shape 
with a big bow on top and wide strings that were al- 
lowed to float on a hot day, so as not to get crushed 
by the warmth under the chin. They had long muslin 
sleeves to pull over their arms, indeed some of them 
were finished with mittens, so that the hands might 
not get tanned. 

The girls wore rather scant straight skirts, tucked 
up to the waist, or with needlework at the bottom, or 
two or three tiny ruffles. The stockings were not al- 
ways white, oftener they matched the color of the 
slippers that were laced across the instep. The necks 
were cut square, often finished with a lace berthe. 
Some old families have handed these down and kept 
them laid away in rose leaves and lavender, and they 
are so sweet that when they are shaken out they per- 
fume the room. 

Cynthia wore a white gauzy frock made over blue 
silk that was soft as a pansy leaf. It had blue satin 
stripes and she was very glad she had the pretty blue 
slippers to match. Then almost every girl had a coral 
necklace, or was allowed to wear grandmother’s gold 
beads. Some had their hair tied up high on their 
heads with a great bow, and maybe the family silver 


A TASTE OF PLEASURE 


*15 

or gold comb put in artistically. Chilian liked the 
little girl’s to hang loose, and now it was down to her 
waist. 

It was said the Holland wives of centuries ago took 
their visitors through their wardrobes and displayed 
their silk and velvet gowns. And when England 
passed some sumptuary laws that no one below titled 
rank should wear silk, the good wives of traders lined 
theirs with silk and hung them up in grand array to 
gratify their visitors or themselves. 

“ You have so many lovely things,” said a girl en- 
viously. “ I haven’t but one silk frock, and that was 
Mary’s until she outgrew it. And mother’s so choice 
of it ; she thinks it ought to last and go to RutH.” 

“ Why, you see, so many things came from India,” 
apologized Cynthia, almost ashamed of having so 
much. “ And there’s a boxful upstairs, but I think 
I like the white muslins best, they look so pretty when 
they are clean, and you don’t have to be so careful.” 

“ Do you ever get scolded when accidents happen ? ” 

“ Well, not much. Cousin Eunice is so sweet. 
Cousin Elizabeth was more particular.” 

“ And Miss Winn?” 

“Oh, my dear Rachel loves me too much/’ the 
child said laughingly. 

There were so many odd and pretty things that they 
staid up until all the girls had come — not one of them 
declined. Then they went down to the parlors. 

“ Cousin Chilian said this back room was to be 


216 a LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

mine. That lovely desk and the cabinet were my own 
mother’s. And the table is teakwood. The chair 
father had carved for me, and that big 1 portrait is 
father. This case has miniatures of them both, but it 
is too big ever to wear.” 

“ What a pity ! ” 

It was a beutifully engraved gold case, set witH 
jewels. 

“ Well, you are a lucky girl ! And you can have all 
these yourself. You just don’t have to share them 
with anybody. Is the room truly yours ? ” 

“ Why, it is to put my things in, but anybody can 
come in it, and we can go in the other room. Most 
of those articles were Cousin Chilian’s father’s and 
mother’s, and the great clock in the hall came over in 
1640. It’s funny ; ” and she laughed. “ Old furniture 
and quilts and things never get cross and queer as 
folks sometimes do.” 

“ Well, they’re not really alive.” 

“ And they last so much longer than folks.” 

They had not inspected all the things when Miss 
Winn invited them out to supper. She took the head 
of the table, and began to talk so that they should not 
feel embarrassed. The lovely old china was on the 
table, and two vases of flowers that looked as if they 
were set with gems. ’Mirny passed the plates of bread 
and butter and cold meats and cottage cheese, and 
after a little they all began to talk as if it was recess at 
school. 


A TASTE OF PLEASURE 


217 


Mr. Chilian Leverett passed through the sitting- 
room and thought it was really an enchanting sight, 
and that Cynthia was the prettiest girl of them all. 

People had not thought up ice cream in those days, 
but they made lovely custards, baked in cups with 
handles, and a tiny spoon to eat them with. They were 
the last of the tea. 

Then they went into the front parlor, which was the 
larger and played fox and geese, and blind-man’s buff 
in a ring. Oh, Elizabeth, it was enough to disturb 
your rest to have those merry feet twinkle over the 
beautiful rug, when you scarcely dared walk tiptoe 
for fear of crushing the soft pile. But they had a 
grand, good time. 

Then Mr. Leverett brought in Cousin Eunice, who 
had a bit of white at her neck and wrists, and a laven- 
der bow on her cap. She had protested against the 
bow, but Miss Winn had carried her point. 

Mr. Leverett set them to doing some amusing things 
he had resurrected from his own boyhood. Catches 
on words, such as “ Malaga grapes are very good 
grapes, but the grapes of Oporto are better.” And 
then, “ A hen, a hen, but not a rooster. Can you say 
that?” They were greatly puzzled and looked at Cyn- 
thia, who was silently smiling, saying it over in every 
manner, until at last one girl almost shrieked out, 
" That,” and there was a chorus of laughter. 

At nine o’clock they were bidden to come home. 
Some of them were sent for and those who lived near 


218 a LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

together went in a group. Ben Upham came for his 
sisters. 

“ I don’t see why they couldn’t have had boys,” said 
Ben to Polly. “ Ever so many of us would have been 
glad to come.” 

“ Well, we didn’t have any real boys’ plays. But 
the supper was elegant. And ’Mirny waited so nicely. 
Cynthia’s going to have the back parlor for hers, and 
Mr. Leverett has bought a new spinet. And she has 
the most beautiful things ” 

“ Oh, yes, I’ve seen those ; ” rather impatiently. 

“And Mr. Leverett’s just splendid!” 

“ I always told you so ; ” somewhat grumpily. 
“ But I’d rather be up in the study with him and Cyn- 
thy than to go to half a dozen parties.” 

“ Oh, we weren’t in the study at all.” 

“ No, that isn’t for girls.” So he had scored one, 
after all. 

It was the general verdict when the tea party was 
talked over that Cynthia Leverett was in a fair way 
of being spoiled. A man didn’t know how to bring up 
a girl, and, of course, Miss Winn let her have her own 
way. Miss Eunice had given in to her sister so long 
that she gave in to every one else. 

Friends went to call and found the children had 
not exaggerated. Now and then a neighbor was 
asked in to supper, and found Cynthia a nice, modest 
girl, with no airs of superiority. 

They had some journeys about. They went up to 


A TASTE OF PLEASURE 


2x9 


the bay of Fundy and cruised around, chatting with 
fishermen and French settlers in their odd costumes, 
looked at their funny little huts, and were amazed at 
the children rolling round in the sand and the sun. 
Cousin Chilian talked to them, but their language was 
a sort of patois difficult to understand. 

After that Cynthia was much interested in the 
French and English war. And the whole country was 
watching the Corsican who had made himself master 
of half of Europe. 

“ It is a wonderful world,” Cynthia said when they 
were safe in the study again. “ And I wonder if it is 
narrow and selfish to be glad that you are just you? ” 

He was amused at the idea. But he couldn’t recall 
that he had ever been anxious to change with any 
one. 

“ And that you are just you. I couldn’t like any 
one else as well, not even Cousin Giles, and I do like 
him very much.” 

Chilian felt a rise of color stealing up his cheek. 
The preference was sweet, for Cousin Giles was ex- 
tremely indulgent to her, and he was not a child en- 
thusiast either. 

In those days no one supposed parents and friends 
were put in the world purposely for children’s pleas- 
ure. They didn’t even consider they came for their 
pleasure. It was right to have them, they were to be 
the future men and women, workers, legislators, and 
homemakers. They didn’t always have easy times, nor 


2 20 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


their own way, and they were not thought to be wiser 
than their parents, even in the choice of professions 
for life. But there were many fine brave fellows 
among the boys, and the girls went on, making pretty 
good wives and mothers. If life did not bring them 
just what they wished, they accepted it and did the 
best they could. 

Anthony Drayton came to make Cousin Chilian a 
visit and pass an examination for Harvard. With a 
little help he had worked his way through the acad- 
emy. He was one of the brave, resolute boys, and, 
though it grieved him to go against his father’s 
wishes, he had decided for himself. 

“ I really could not bury myself on a farm,” he 
confessed. “ I want a wider life, I want to mix with 
men and take an interest in the country. Not that I 
despise farming, and if one could branch out and do 
many new things, but to keep on year after year in 
the old rut, corn and potatoes, wheat and rye — just 
as grandfather did. What is the use of a man living 
if he can’t strike out some new ways? Maybe I’d 
been willing to go to the new countries, but father was 
just as opposed to that.” 

He was a fresh, fair lad, with eyes of the Leverett 
blue, a strong, fine face, not delicate as Cousin Chil- 
ian’s. His hair was not very dark, but his brows well 
defined, and with the eyelashes much darker than the 
hair. His voice had such a cheerful uplift. 

“ You have quite decided then? ” Chilian wondered 


A TASTE OF PLEASURE 


221 


if he could ever have gone against his father’s wishes, 
but in that case father and son had similar tastes. 

“ Oh, yes ; I’ve nothing farther to look for, and I’m 
willing to leave my share to the other children. I 
know I can make my way, and I’m ready to work and 
wait.” 

His voice had such a nice wholesome ring that it 
inspired you with faith in him. 

Cousin Eunice took a great fancy to him. They 
talked over the visit of years ago. It seemed to her as 
if it had just been the beginning of things. 

One sister was grown up and “ keeping company,” 
the other a nice handy girl. The next brother would 
be a great help — he cared nothing for books. Both of 
the Brent cousins were married, one living on the farm 
with his mother, the other having struck out for him- 
self. And Miss Eliza Leverett was weakly. Like 
many women of that period, when all hope of marry- 
ing and having a home of her own was past, she sank 
down into a gentle nonentity and dreamed of Cousin 
Chilian. Not that she had expected to captivate him, 
but life with some one like that would set one on the 
highest pinnacle. 

He thought Cousin Cynthia — they were always 
cousins, to the fourth generation — was the sweetest, 
daintiest, and most winsome thing he had ever seen — 
and so she was, for his acquaintance with girls had 
been limited. They looked over the old treasures in 
the house and thought it wonderful any one should 


222 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


ever go to India and return without being wrecked. 
They walked about the lovely garden, and he was 
amazed at her familiarity with flowers and plants he 
had never seen. 

Then she took him over to the Uphams, for an old 
friend came in to play checkers with Cousin Chilian. 
Polly was bright and merry, but somehow Ben seemed 
rather captious. Anthony listened with surprise at the 
bright sayings they flung at one another. 

The next day he and Cousin Chilian went over 
topics for examination. His reading had not been ex- 
tensive but thorough. In mathematics he was excel- 
lent. But he found some time to chat with Cynthia, 
and they both walked down to the warehouse with 
Cousin Chilian. 

What a sight it was! He had read of such things, 
but to see the hundreds of busy men, the great fleet 
of vessels, the docks piled with all kinds of wares, the 
boxes and bales lying round in endless confusion. 
And the great ocean, lost over beyond in the far-off 
sky. 

When the two had gone up to Boston, Cynthia felt 
very lonely. She had been sipping the sweets of un- 
spoken admiration. She saw it in the eyes, in the 
deference, as if he was almost afraid of her, in the 
sudden flush when she turned her eyes to him. It 
was a new kind of worship. 

She went over to the Uphams. Polly had been hav- 
ing her sampler framed. The acorn border was very 


A TASTE OF PLEASURE 


*23 


pretty in its greens and browns. Then a stiff lit- 
tle tree grew up both sides, about like those that 
came in the Noah’s Ark later on. And between these 
two trees was worked in cross-stitch: 

" Mary Upham is my name, 

America is my nation ; 

Salem is my dwelling place, 

And Christ is my salvation.” 

“ Isn’t the frame nice ? ” she asked. “ I made father 
two shirts and he gave me the frame and the glass. 
Peter Daly made it. And the frame is oiled and pol- 
ished until the grain shows — well, almost like watered 
silk. Gitty Sprague has a beautiful pelisse of gray 
watered silk. And now I have one thing for my house. 
I’m beginning to lay by.” 

“ Your house!” Cynthia ejaculated in surprise. 

“ Why, yes — when I’m married. You have such 
lots of things, you’ll never have to save up.” 

Cynthia was wondering what she could give away. 
Not anything that was her father’s or her mother’s. 

“ I’ll paint you a picture. You do so much better 
needlework than I that I should be ashamed to offer 
you any.” 

“ And the girls will give me some, I know. I’d 
fifty times rather have the picture. What a nice young 
fellow that cousin is! I’m glad his name isn’t Lev- 
erett. There’s such a host of them. But I don’t like 
Anthony so well.” 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


224 

“ That was father’s name. It’s quite a family 
name. It always sounds good to me.” 

“ And is he going to Harvard ? ” 

“ Yes ; even if he can’t get in right away.” 

“ That’s nice, too. It’s quite the style for young 
men to go to college. Some of them put on a sight of 
airs, though. He doesn’t look like that kind.” 

“ He isn’t,” she returned warmly. “ He is going to 
work his way through.” 

“ Oh ! Hasn’t he any father ? ” 

“Yes; but his father will not do anything for him. 
I think it is real grand of him.” 

Polly nodded, but she lost interest in the young 
man. 

Bentley walked home with Cynthia. It was after- 
noon, so he did not really need to. 

“ I suppose that cousin isn’t going to live with 
you ? ” he asked presently. 

“ Oh, no ; he will have to live in Boston.” 

“ And come up here for Sundays ? ” 

“ Why, I don’t know. That would be nice. I 
think I am growing fond of company.” 

“ Well, I can come over ; ” half jocosely. 

“ Oh, I meant other people ; ” innocently. 

“ Then you don’t care for my coming? ” 

“ Yes, I do. Oh, do you remember that winter I 
was half sick and how you used to come over and 
read Latin? And I used to say it to myself after 
you.” 


A TASTE OF PLEASURE 


225 


That delighted him. He didn’t feel so cross about 
the young fellow, but he half hoped he wouldn’t pass, 
and have to go back to New Hampshire for another 
year. 

They sat on the stoop and chatted until the old 
stage stopped and Chilian alighted. 

“ Oh ! ” the young girl cried, “ where did you leave 
Anthony ? ” 

“ With Cousin Giles. The examinations will begin 
to-mgrrow.” 

It was near supper-time and Ben rose to go. Some- 
times they asked him to stay to supper, but to-night 
they did not. 

Then an event happened that took Cynthia’s entire 
interest for a while. This was the return of Captain 
Corwin. He came up the walk one day — quite a 
grizzled old fellow it seemed, with the sailor’s rolling 
gait — and looked at her so sharply that she had a mind 
to run away. 

“ Oh, Captain Anthony’s little girl,” he cried. 
“ You have forgotten me. And it ain’t been so long 
either.” 

She thought a moment and turned from red to 
white. Then she stretched out both hands and cried, 
her eyes and voice full of tears: 

“ Oh, you couldn’t bring him back ! ” 

“ No, little Missy. He’d shipped for the last time 
before I’d reached there and gone to a better haven. 
He was the best friend I ever had. But he knew it 


a 26 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

long afore, and that was why he wanted you safe with 
friends. ,, 

“ I know now.” She brushed the tears from her 
eyes. 

“ And I hope you’ve been happy.” 

“ I waited and waited at first. Sometimes I wished 
I was a bird. Oh, wouldn’t we have a lovely time if 
we could fly ? And one time in the winter I was quite 
ill — it was so cold and I did get so tired of waiting. 
Then Cousin Chilian told me he had gone to mother 
and I knew how glad she would be to see him. I had 
some nice times. Cousin Chilian loved me very much. 
So did Cousin Eunice. I think Cousin Elizabeth 
would if she had lived longer, but she went away, too. 
Oh, I’ve done so many things — studied books, and 
taken journeys, and made friends, and painted pic- 
tures, flowers, and such. And I’ve tried to paint the 
sea, but I can’t make it move and seem like a real sea.” 

“ Oh, Missy, how smart you must be ! ” 

“ There are so many things I don’t know,” she 
laughed. “ And now tell me about yourself and why 
you did not come back.” 

“We had a pretty fair journey all along first. But 
as we were nearing Torres Strait an awful storm took 
us, and we were driven ashore almost a wreck and lost 
two of our men. After a while we got patched up and 
set sail again, but I was afraid we would never reach 
harbor. Howsomever we did, in a pretty bad condi- 
tion. Poor Flying Star seemed on its last legs and 


A TASTE OF PLEASURE 


227 


’twasn’t sea legs either. Then I went up to Hong 
Kong and cruised around, buying stuff and selling it 
elsewhere. The Flying Star was patched up again, 
but she wasn’t thought safe for a long journey. But 
there was plenty of work near at hand. Of course, I 
knew all about your father, and that the word must 
have reached you, but I hated mortally to come back 
and face you. But after a while the hankerin’ for old 
Salem grew upon me. And there was the Am ora 
wantin’ a captain, for the man who brought her out 
died of a fever. So says I, ‘I’m your man, and I’ve 
been over often enough to know the ropes, the islands, 
and p’ints of danger and safe sailing.’ So here I be 
once more. But jiminy Peter! I should hardly ’a’ 
knowed little old Salem. Why, she looks as if she 
was going to outsail all creation ! ” 

“ Oh, we’re getting very grand. New streets, and 
splendid new houses, and stores, and churches. Why, 
Boston isn’t very much finer.” 

“ Don’t b’lieve Boston harbor can show tonnage 
with her ! And where’s first mate ? ” 

“ I don’t know, but he will be in soon. Oh, 
there’s Rachel. Rachel, come here to an old friend.” 

The captain shook hands heartily. “ Why, you don’t 
seem to have changed a mite, only to grow younger 
and plump as a partridge.” 

It had all to be talked over again and in the midst 
of it supper was ready, and there was Miss Eunice’s 
surprise. Cynthia could hardly eat, the long journey 


228 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


and the dangers seemed such a strange thing now. 
Had she really come from India, or was it all a 
dream ? 

Yes, old Salem was almost fading out of the minds 
of even middle-aged people. There were curious 
stories told about witches and ghosts, but the real 
witchcraft was dying out of mind and the old houses 
that had been associated with it were looked upon as 
curiosities. Public spirit was being roused. In 1804 
the East India Marine Society left the Stearns house 
and moved to the new Pickman Building in Essex 
Street. People began to send in curiosities that had 
been stored away in garrets: models of early vessels, 
articles from Calcutta, from the islands about the Cen- 
tral and South Pacific, cloths, and cloaks, and shawls, 
and implements. 

The captain was quite sure Winter Island had 
grown larger — perhaps it had, by docking out. And 
he declared the streets looked like London, with the 
gayly gowned women, the stores, the carriages, for a 
number of handsome late ones were to be seen. There 
were a few fine young men on the promenade and 
they were attired in the height of fashion, as the so- 
ciety men of New York and Philadelphia. They were 
still paying attention to business and devoting the 
evenings to pleasure. Descendants of the strict old 
Puritans met to play cards and have dances and gay 
times with the young ladies. In the afternoon a cup 
of tea would be offered to callers, or a piece of choice 


A TASTE OF PLEASURE 


229 

cake and a glass of wine — often home-made. There 
were few excesses. 

Many were still wearing the old Continental attire, 
yet you saw an old Puritan gentleman, with his long 
coat, his high-crowned hat, black silk stockings, and 
low shoes with great steel buckles. 

Anthony was very much interested in the captain, 
whose best friend had been Anthony Leverett. He 
was proud of the name, and Cynthia’s story was like 
a romance to him. He was taken up quite cordially 
by Cousin Giles, and very cordially by Mrs. Stevens, 
who had a liking for young men when they were well- 
mannered. He had managed to enter Harvard, with 
some studies to make up. Chilian Leverett insisted 
he should do no teaching this year, and offered him 
enough to see him through, but he would only accept 
it as a loan. 

Bentley Upham was a year ahead and had a good 
standing, but he felt a little jealous of the young coun- 
try fellow — “ bumpkin ” he would have liked to call 
him, but he was not that. A young man received at 
Mr. Giles Leverett’s, and who sometimes escorted Mrs. 
Stevens to an entertainment, was not to be ignored. 

The captain staid in port nearly two months and 
Cynthia experienced her old fondness for him, if he 
was a little uncouth and rough. They went down to 
see the Aurora off and she recalled the day she had 
said good-bye to the Flying Star , that was to bring 
back her father. 


230 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


As for her she was very busy learning to play and 
to paint. It was a young lady’s accomplishment, but 
she really did very well. There were girls’ teas, and 
now and then a small dance that began at seven and 
ended at nine, but boys were invited generally. Miss 
Polly Upham was quite in the swim, as we should say 
now. Mothers expected their daughters to marry, 
and how could they if they did not see young men? 
But there was a certain propriety observed, and very 
little playing fast and loose with the most sacred 
period of life, with the greatest God-given blessing — 
Love. 


CHAPTER XIV, 


IN GAY OLD SALEM 

The next winter Cynthia was fairly launched on 
society. There was no regular coming out in almost 
bridal array, with a grand tea and a houseful of 
flowers. When a girl left school she expected to be 
invited out and to give little companies at home. Al- 
most the first thing, she was asked to be one of the 
six bridesmaids at Laura Manning’s wedding. 

The Mannings had one of the splendid new houses 
on Chestnut Street, with spacious grounds before the 
houses grew so close together. Avis Manning was 
still in school, Cynthia was between the two in age. 
Mr. Manning was connected with the East India trade 
and an old friend of the Leverett family. It had begun 
by Cynthia being invited to a girls’ tea, and Mrs. Man- 
ning had taken a great fancy to her. Laura was not 
very tall, and they did not want any one to dwarf the 
bride. 

Every one was to be in white, the bride in a soft, 
thick silk, and she was to have a court train. Tlie 
maids were to be in mull or gauze, as a very pretty 
thin material was called. The Empress Josephine had 
brought in new styles that certainly were very becom- 
a 3 x 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


232 

ing to young people. The short waist and square 
neck, the sleeve puffs that had shrunk so much they no 
longer reached the ears, the short curls around the 
edge of the forehead arranged so the white parting 
showed, the dainty feet in elegant slippers and choice 
silk stockings that could not help showing, for the 
skirts were short. Pretty feet and slim ankles seemed 
to be a mark of good family. 

“ Will I do? ” Cynthia stood before Cousin Chilian 
with a half-saucy smile. Around her throat she wore 
a beautiful Oriental necklace, with pendants of differ- 
ent fine stones that sparkled with every turn of the 
head. There were match pendants in her ears, and 
just back of the rows of curls was a jewelled comb. 

She was a pretty girl without being a striking 
beauty. But her eyes would have redeemed almost 
any face, and now they were all aglow with a wonder- 
ful light. 

He looked his admiration.* 

“ Because if you don’t like me ” 

There was a charming half-coquettish way about 
her, but she never made a bid for compliments. 

“ What then ? ” laughing. 

“ I’d stay home and spoil the wedding party. I 
know they couldn’t fill my place on a short notice.” 

He thought they couldn’t fill it at all, but he said 
almost merrily, “ You need not stay at home.” 

Cousin Eunice said she looked pretty enough for 
the bride. Miss Winn had attended to her toilette, 


IN GAY OLD SALEM 


233 


and now she wrapped a soft silken cloak about her and 
Cousin Chilian put her in the carriage. He was all in 
his best, ruffled shirt-front, light brocaded silk waist- 
coat, and there were lace ruffles about his hands. 

One feels inclined to wonder at the extravagance of 
those days, when one sees some of the heirlooms that 
have come down to us. But their handsome gowns 
went through several seasons, and then were made 
over for the daughters. And they did not have their 
jewels reset every few months. 

Such a roomful of pretty girls! Youth and health 
and picturesque dressing make almost any one pretty. 
Miss Laura looked fine, but she paused to say, “ Oh, 
Cynthia, what an elegant necklace ! ” 

“ Father had it made for mother,” she replied 
simply. 

They patted and pulled a little, powdered, too. 

Miss Willard, the great mantua-maker of that day, 
who superintended the dressing of brides, saw that 
everything was right. The young men came from 
their dressing-room, and they began to form the pro- 
cession. Both halls were illuminated with no end of 
candles, and guests were standing about. Mr. Lynde 
Saltonstall took his bride-to-be, and they let the white 
train sweep down the broad stairway, then Avis Man- 
ning and Ed Saltonstall followed. They were not 
much on knick-names in those days, but he had been 
called Ed to distinguish him from some cousins. 

Cynthia and a cousin came next, and there were 


2 34 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

several other relatives. It was a beautiful sight. The 
bride walked up to the white satin cushion on which 
the couple would kneel during the prayer, the maids 
and attendants made a semicircle around her, and 
then the nearest relatives. The old white-haired min- 
ister had married her mother. 

Then there was kissing and congratulation and Mrs. 
Saltonstall had her new name, though Avis said she 
liked Manning a hundred times better. 

“Then you wouldn’t accept my name?” said Ed, 
but he looked laughingly at Cynthia. 

“ Indeed I wouldn’t ! I don’t want any one’s name 
at present. I’m going to be the only daughter of the 
house a while,” she returned saucily. 

“ I wonder if I ought to go on and ask all the 
maids ? ” There was such a funny anxiety in his face 
that it added to the merriment. 

“ You needn’t ask this one,” said Ward Adams, and 
Cousin Lois Reade blushed scarlet, though they all 
knew she was engaged. 

“ But I’m going to dance with every maid. And 
just at twelve I’m going to hunt for a glass slipper.” 

His look at Cynthia said he needn’t hunt very far, 
and she blushed, which made her more enchanting 
than before. 

They all laughed and talked, the older men teasing 
the bride a little and giving her advice as to how she 
should break in her new husband. Young people’s 
weddings were expected to be gay and every one 


IN GAY OLD SALEM 


2 35 

added his or her mite. The fine new house was duly 
admired. On one side it was all one long room, beau- 
tifully decorated. On the other a library, for books 
were beginning to come in fashion, even if you were 
not a clergyman or a student. Then a kind of family 
sitting-room, with a large dining-room at the back. 
Some of the fine old houses were taken for public pur- 
poses later on. 

They went out to refreshments and the bride cut the 
cake with a silver knife. Large suppers were no 
longer considered the style, but there was a bountiful 
supply of delicacies. They drank health and long life 
to the bride and groom, and good wishes of all kinds. 

The black waiter, in white gloves and white apron, 
stood in the hall to deliver boxes of wedding cake as 
the older people took their departure. And then the 
fiddlers began to tune up. There were two minuets to 
take in all the party. Cynthia and Mr. Jordan were 
in the head one, with the bride. He was a little stiff 
and excused himself, as he wasn’t much given to danc- 
ing. It didn’t matter so much in the minuet. 

Then they paired off any way. Mr. Ed Saltonstall 
caught Cynthia’s hand. 

“ I’m just dying to dance with you, and this is the 
basket quadrille. Jordan dances like a pump handle, 
but he’s a good fellow. Now let us have something 
worth while. I know you dance beautifully.” 

“ How do you know ? ” piquantly. 

“ I’d like to be nautical and impertinent, but I’m 


236 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

afraid you’d report me to Mr. Leverett. Oh, it’s in 
you, in every motion. Aren’t you glad you didn’t live 
in those old Puritan days when you would have been 
put in the stocks if you had skipped across the room? 
Come.” 

That was dancing. Not a halt nor an ungraceful 
turn, but every curve and motion was as perfect as if 
they had danced together all their lives. She gave 
two or three happy sighs. Her cheeks were like the 
heart of a blush rose ; she never turned very red when 
she ran or skipped, and never looked blowsy. 

Another person watched and thought her the pret- 
tiest thing in the room, and was very glad she be- 
longed to him. 

“ I’m sorry I have to dance with some one else and 
it’s Lois Reade. Adams would like to kick me, I 
know, and she would be twice as happy with him. 
That is the price you pay for assisting your brother 
into matrimony. Next time there shall not be but one 
bridesmaid, and I’ll dance with her all the evening.” 

“Next time? Will he be married twice?” she 
asked demurely. 

“Oh, you witch! You are the most delicious 
dancer — it almost seems as if you were sipping some 
very fine wine ” 

“ And it went to your head,” she laughed. 

“ Head and heels both. I’m extravagantly fond of 
it with a partner like you. You’ll go to the assemblies 
this winter ? ” 


IN GAY OLD SALEM 


237 


“ Oh, I don’t know.” 

“ Is Mr. Leverett very — he’s your guardian, and 
somehow I stand just a little in awe of him. He is so 
polished, and knows so much, and is he going to be 
very exclusive ? ” 

“ Why ” She didn’t quite understand, but she 

looked out of such lovely eyes that all his pulses 
throbbed. 

“ Take your places.” 

She was standing there alone when Mr. Adams 
asked her. That was only fair play. Mr. Saltonstall 
was in the same set and he gave her hand a squeeze 
when he took her, crumpled it all up in his, and she 
flushed daintily. 

He could not dance with her again until the very 
last. That was a “ circle ” in which you balanced and 
turned your partner and went to the next couple, but 
some way you returned to your own. There were 
various pretty figures in it. Once or twice she was a 
little confused, but he seemed always on the watch 
for her. 

The music stopped and the fiddlers were locking 
their cases. The dancers went out to the supper- 
room again. 

“ I’d rather dance than eat. I believe I could 
dance without music. Would you like to try?” he 
asked. 

“ Oh, no ! ” with a frightened look that made him 
laugh. 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


238 

Mr. Leverett came, and Mr. Saltonstall was all 
polite deference. He wished he could be invited to 
call, but how was it to be managed ? 

Then Cynthia went upstairs to put on her cloak. 
The bride kissed her, and said she was glad to have 
had her, and when they gave their house-warming she 
must be sure to come. 

“ I’ve had such a lovely time. Thank you ever so 
much.” 

“ I’m the obliged one,” was the reply. 

If she had not been in the carriage she must have 
danced all the way home. There was music in her 
head and a “ spirit in her feet.” She hardly heard 
what Cousin Chilian was saying, only after they en- 
tered the house and she slipped out of her wrap, with 
his good-night, he said, “ You are a very pretty girl, 
Cynthia.” Of course, he should have had more sense 
than to foster a girl’s vanity. 

The next morning she asked him about the as- 
semblies. 

“ They are very nice dancing parties. Only the best 
people go and no sort of freedom or misbehavior is 
tolerated. I think I’ll take out a membership.” 

“ Oh, do, please do,” she entreated. 

The elegant wedding was talked of for days. Girls 
called on Miss Leverett — it seemed funny to be called 
that. She was asked to join a sewing society that 
made articles of clothing for the widows and children 
of drowned sailors, and there were many of them on 


IN GAY OLD SALEM 


239 

the New England coast. Her tender heart was 
moved by the pathetic tales she heard. 

“ Dear Cousin Eunice,” she said one day, “ I went 
with one of the committee to see a poor sick woman 
who is in awful destitution. There are three small 
children, and when she is well she goes out washing. 
They send her driftwood and old stuff from the ship- 
yards, and one of the companies pays her rent. But 
you should see the things! Such ragged quilts that 
hardly hold together, and one little boy was without 
stockings. There are so many things up in the garret 

that you will never use ” 

“ Likely, dear, but they are Chilian’s.” 

“ He said I might ask you, that he was willing. 
Can’t we go up and find some? What is the use of 
their being piled up year after year, and people in need? 
Ah, if you could see the poor place ! ” 

Miss Eunice went unwillingly. The thrift of New 
England did often shrivel into penuriousness. She 
and Elizabeth were in the habit of putting away so 
many partly worn articles for the time of need. 

“ Those old blankets and quilts ” 

“ Elizabeth thought they would do to cover over.” 
“ But there are so many better ones. And some on 
the closet shelves that have never been used. Why, 
there is enough to last a hundred years.” 

“ Oh, no ; ” with an alarmed expression. 

“ And even I shall not last a hundred years. No 
one does.” 


240 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Oh, yes. I knew a woman who lived to be one 
hundred and four.” 

“ Did she come to want ? ” 

“ She had a good son to take care of her.” 

“ And you have Cousin Chilian. I read somewhere 
in the Bible — I wish I could remember the chapters 
and verses, ‘ While we have time let us do good unto 
all men/ I suppose that means those who haven’t 
been frugal and careful, as well as the others.” 

“We can’t tell just what every sentence means.” 

" But we can help them. And here is a poor 
woman who doesn’t go to taverns ; ” smiling tenderly 
and with persuasive eyes. 

They picked out enough for a wagon-load. Some 
of Cousin Chilian’s clothes that would do to cut over, 
old woollen blankets, and a variety of articles. 

“ Let us put them all in this chest.” 

" We might need the chest.” 

“ Oh, no, we won’t. They will be so much easier to 
carry that way. Silas could drive down there. And, 
oh, you can’t imagine how much good they will do.” 

Cynthia went down to see afterward, and the poor 
woman’s gratitude brought tears to her eyes. 

“ They will be a perfect God-send this winter,” she 
said. “ I’ve been frettin’ as to what we should do. 
I’ve never begged yet. Well, the Lord is good.” 

Then there came another source of interest. Polly 
LTpham was “ keeping company.” A nice, steady 
young man in the ship-chandlery business, with a 


IN GAY OLD SALEM 


241 


little money saved up, whose folks lived at Ports- 
mouth. He came regularly on Wednesday night and 
Sundays to tea. They went to church in the evening, 
and that certified it to the young people. Betty had 
left school and was trying her hand at housekeeping. 
Louis, the little fellow, was a big boy. 

Alice Turner was engaged also, and certainly very 
much in love if she considered the young man a para- 
gon. Cynthia compared them all with Cousin Chilian, 
and it wasn’t a bit fair. 

She met Mr. Saltonstall at a small party, where 
they played games and had forfeits. 

It was odd, she thought, how the girls chose him 
in everything. She didn’t choose him once. He spoke 
of it afterward. 

“ Why, I thought some of the others ought to have 
a chance,” she explained with winning sweetness. 
“ But if it had been dancing ! ” and she laughed, and 
that reconciled him. 

Then Mrs. Lynde Saltonstall gave her house-warm- 
ing. It was a simple dwelling and not very large, but 
it was pretty as a picture. And young people didn’t 
expect to rival their fathers and mothers in the 
start. 

They had dancing, and that was enough. They 
were all young people, and two of the fiddlers were 
there. They had a gay , time and a nice supper. 

“ I think Ed is smitten with Cynthia Leverett,” 
Laura remarked to her husband. “ He seemed to feel 


* 4 * 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


annoyed that they had sent Miss Winn in the carriage 
for her. She’s a lovely dancer.” 

“ It wouldn’t be a bad thing for Ed. She has lots 
of money that just turns itself over on interest. And 
her trustee has been buying up some choice Boston 
property for her. She’s pretty and has charming man- 
ners and comes of a good family.” 

Then Mrs. Stevens asked her to come in to Boston 
for a few days. She was going to have a little danc- 
ing party. 

“ My dear, you’ll dance yourself to death,” said 
Cousin Eunice. 

“Oh, no. It isn’t as hard as cleaning house or 
washing, as some of the poor women do. And it is 
tiresome to practise on the spinet, hour after hour — 
counting time and all that. If I was a girl of twenty 
years ago I’m afraid I should be chasing up and down 
some old garret, spinning on the big wheel.” 

Cousin Eunice laughed, too. Cynthia always made 
commonplaces seem amusing, she accented them so 
with her bright face. 

They were very glad to have her in Boston. Chil- 
ian took her in on Saturday and staid with her until 
Monday morning. On Sunday Anthony Drayton was 
invited in to dinner. He had improved very much. 
The country air had been effaced. And he was a gen- 
tleman by instinct, and acquired cultivation readily. 

“ And a fine fellow ! ” said Cousin Giles, rubbing 
his hands. “ He’s decided to go in for law presently, 


IN GAY OLD SALEM 


243 


and it will be a most excellent thing. I don’t know but 
I'll have to adopt him, as you did Cynthia.” 

Anthony hovered about the young girl. She had 
been cultivating her voice the last year. It was a 
sweet parlor voice, adapted to the old-time songs. 
Mrs. Stevens had a book of them and she sang most 
cheerfully. 

“ Oh, I wish you were going to stay over another 
Sunday,” he exclaimed wistfully. “ But I shall come 
in on Tuesday evening. I don’t dance, but Mrs. 
Stevens is so kind to me, I’ve met several of the first 
men in the city here.” 

“ Oh, I am glad you are coming.” 

It was a very sincere joy and she could not keep it 
out of her face, did not try to. And it was such a 
sweet face that she raised to his. He had a sudden un- 
reasonable wish that he was five years older and settled 
in business, but then — she was very young. 

Mrs. Stevens said to her on Monday, after she had 
read a note over and glanced up at her rather fur- 
tively, “ There’s a friend of yours coming Tuesday 
night — a friend from Salem that I hope you will be 
glad to see.” 

“ From Salem ” 

“ Mr. Saltonstall. He was in here a fortnight or so 
ago. His mother and I used to be great friends. I 
happened to ask him if he knew the Leveretts, and he 
told me about his brother’s marriage, that you were 
one of the bridesmaids.” 


*44 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


"Oh, yes. Laura Manning was one of the older 
girls at Madam Torrey’s. They had just gone in their 
new house and the wedding was splendid. And I 
liked Mr. Edward Saltonstall so much. He is a 
most beautiful dancer. I’m so glad he is coming. 
You see I don’t know many of the new dances, and I 
shouldn’t so much mind making a break with him.” 

She looked up in her sweet, brave innocence as she 
uttered it. 

“ You are not in love with him, little lady, and he is 
very much smitten with you,” Mrs. Stevens ruminated. 
“ But you shall have the chance.” 

“ I’ve always liked Ed,” she continued. “ He’s a 
nice, frank, honest fellow, pretty gay at times, but not 
at all in the dissipated line, just full of fun and frolic. 
So I asked him down, and here he says he will come,” 
waving her note. “ I look out for men who dance. I 
do like to see young folks have a good time. The 
older people can play cards.” 

It seemed rather odd that at eight o’clock not a soul 
had come. At home they would be beginning the fun 
by this time. Then a sudden influx of girls, some she 
had met before — two or three young men — and then 
young Saltonstall, who had been counting the mo- 
ments the last half hour. 

“ I am so glad to see you. It was such a surprise.” 

He could see it in her face, hear it in her voice. 
He really was afraid of saying something foolish — 
something that would be no harm if they were alone. 


IN GAY OLD SALEM 


24 $ 

“ I’ve known Mrs. Stevens a long while. And Mr. 
Giles Leverett. It’s queer — well, not quite that either 
— that I’ve known you such a little while. I always 
thought of you as a child, though I’ve seen you drive 
your pony carriage.” 

“ Mrs. Stevens is delightful.” 

Then there was another relay, quite a number of 
young gentlemen. The black fiddlers in the hall began 
to tune up. 

There were two very handsome girls and beauti- 
fully gowned. All of them looked pretty in dancing 
attire. Then a quadrille was called. There were just 
eight couples. 

Of course, Mr. Saltonstall took her. The rug was 
up and the floor had been polished. The dancing was 
elegant, harmonious. 

“ The next is the Spanish dance. You will like that. 
The windings about are like the song words to the 
music.” 

“ But — I don’t know it ; ” and she shrank back. 

“ Oh, you’ll get into it. You are the kind that could 
pick up any step. You make me think of a swallow 
as it darts round. If it made a mistake no one would 
know it.” 

“ Oh, I’d rather not ; ” entreatingly. 

“ Don’t spoil the set.” 

She rose up and let him lead her out. She had a 
way of yielding so quickly, when it was right and best, 
very flattering to a man in love and easily misread. 


246 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

If dancing had been art instead of nature, some- 
thing by rote instead of a segment of inner harmony, 
she could not have succeeded so well. He warded off 
the few blunders, and at the third change she had 
another well-bred partner. But she was glad to get 
back to him. The joy shone in her dangerous eyes. 

There were some new dances coming in. One of 
the girls from New York and her escort waltzed up 
and down the room in a slow-gliding manner that was 
the poetry of motion. She was fascinated, enchanted, 
and she knew she could do it herself. 

“ We’ll try it sometime,” Saltonstall said. 

Mr. Leverett came in, bringing Anthony Drayton 
with him. He knew he was late, but he didn’t dance, 
and he had earned five dollars copying that evening. 
But he must see Cynthia. 

“ Oh, I thought you would not come ! ” 

Then she had been giving a thought to him out of 
her happy time! 

“ I was detained. Are they all well, or didn’t Cousin 
Chilian come down ? ” 

“ Oh, no.” 

They were being marshalled out to supper. 

" You’ll have to content yourself with me,” said 
Mrs. Stevens to Anthony, and he accepted smilingly. 
But she placed Cynthia next, so he could have a little 
talk with her. He was getting on so well, and she 
was glad for him. 

Some one wanted Miss Tracy to waltz again. Then 


IN GAY OLD SALEM 


247 


they had a galop, and the party broke up. Anthony 
said good-night, and that he was coming up on Satur- 
day. Then Saltonstall drew her into a little nook in 
the hall that made a connection with another room 
when it was open. Mrs. Stevens had smiled over its 
uses. 

“ Cynthia, my darling, I must tell you this,” and his 
voice seemed to throb with emotion. “ I want the 
right to come and visit you as lovers have, for I love 
you, love you ! I am coming to see Mr. Leverett and 
ask his permission. I do nothing but dream of you 
day and night. You are the sweetest, dearest ” 

“ Oh, don’t ! don’t ! ” She struggled in the clasp. 

“ Oh, I can’t — I ” and he felt her slight body 

tremble, so he loosed it. 

“ Forgive me. I wanted you to know so no one can 
take you from me. I want to see you often. Oh, love, 
good-night, good-night ! ” 

He pressed a rapturous kiss upon her hand and 
was gone. She slipped through to the dining-room 
and took a glass of water. 

“ You look tired to death, little country girl,” said 
Uncle Giles, and he kissed her on the forehead. 


CHAPTER XV 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 

“ Take me home with you, Cousin Chilian,” she 
pleaded, when he came in the next day. 

“ But I thought ” — he studied her in surprise. 

“ I want to go home,” she interrupted, and her under 
lip had a quiver in it that would have disarmed almost 
any one, persuaded as well. 

“ Why, yes. Didn’t you enjoy the party ? ” He felt 
suddenly at loss, he was not used to translating moods 
with all his knowledge. 

“ Oh, it was delightful ! And some such pretty girls. 
There were new dances. And Mrs. Stevens is charm- 
ing. Anthony came over a little while.” 

In spite of inducements held out, she would go. 
Cousin Giles was almost cross about it. 

“ I'm so glad to get back,” she said to Rachel. 
“ One feels so safe here.” 

“ Was there any danger ? ” laughed the elder. 
Cynthia’s face was scarlet. It wasn’t danger 
exactly, but she felt better under Cousin Chil- 
ian’s wing. And she was her bright gay self all the 
evening. 


248 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 


249 


But how to get her story told? For if Mr. Salton- 
stall came and asked for her company, as they termed 
it then, and not being warned, he should consent 

They sat by the study fire. It had turned out cold 
and cloudy, with indications of snow. He had a lamp 
near him on the small table, and read and thought, as 
his glance wandered dreamily over the leaping flash- 
ing blue and yellow flames. If it stormed for one or 
two days, she could not have come home. 

She rose presently and came and stood by him, laid 
her hand lightly on his shoulder. She was a young 
lady now, and it was hardly proper to draw her down 
on his knee. 

“ Cousin Chilian ; ” hesitatingly. 

“ Well, dear? ” in an inquiring tone. 

“ There is something I ought to tell you, and I want 
to ask you — to — to do — oh, I hardly know how to say 
it. Mr. Saltonstall came down; he and Mrs. Stevens 
are old friends ” 

Ah, he knew now. This young man had dared to 
invade the virginal sweetness of her soul, to trouble 
the quiet stream of girlhood. He was roused, strangely 
angry, for all his placid temperament. 

“ I couldn’t help it — just before he went away — and 
I couldn’t have dreamed of such a thing ” 

Then she hid her head down on his shoulder and 
cried. 

“ Dear — my dear little girl — oh, yes, it would have to 
happen sometime. And — he loves you.” 


250 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Oh, that isn’t the worst ; ” illogically, between her 
sobs. “ He is coming to ask you if he may — and I 
don’t want him to come that way. I just want it as it 
was before. Polly Upham can’t think or talk of any- 
thing but her intended, and it gets tiresome. He 
doesn’t seem so very wonderful to me. And wouldn’t 
it weary you to hear me praising some one all the 
time?” 

“ I think it would,” he answered honestly, yet with 
some confusion of mind. 

“ So I don’t want it ; ” with more courage in her 
voice. “ I want good times with them all. And I 
don’t see how you can come to love any one all in a 
moment.” 

Was he hearing aright? Didn’t she really want the 
young man for a lover ? He was unreasonably, 
fatuously glad, and the pulses, that were chilled a mo- 
ment ago, seemed to race hot through his body. 

“ It was not quite marriage ? ” a .little huskily. 

“He wanted to ask if he might have the right to 
come, and he said he loved me, and, oh, I am 
afraid ” 

She was trembling. He could feel it where sha 
leaned against him. He took sudden courage. 

“ And you do not want him to come in that way? 
It would most likely lead to an engagement. And then 
I should have to listen to his praises continually. Yes, 
it would be rather hard on me ; ” and he laughed with a 
humorous sound. 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 


* 5 * 

It heartened her a good deal. She was smiling now 
herself, but there were tears on her cheek. 

“ And you won’t mind telling him ; that is not very 
much, that ” 

“ I think you are too young to decide such a grave 
matter, Cynthia,” he began seriously. “ And you 
ought to have a glad, sweet youth. There is no reason 
why you should rush into marriage. You have a 
pleasant home with those that love you ” 

“ And I don’t want to go away. I feel as if I would 
like to live here always. You are so good and indul- 
gent, and Cousin Eunice is so nice, now that she 
doesn’t seem afraid of any one. Were we all afraid 
of Cousin Elizabeth? And we have such nice talks. 
She tells me about the old times and what queer 
thoughts people had, and how hard they were. And 
about girls whose lovers went away to sea and never 
came back, and how they watched and waited, and 
sometimes we cry over them. And the house is so 
cheerful, and I can have all the flowers I want, and 
friends coming in, and, oh, I shall never want to go 
away, because I shall never love any one as well as 
you.” 

That was very sweet, but it was a girl’s inno- 
cence, and her face did not change color in the 
admission. 

“ Well, I will explain the matter to Mr. Saltonstall. 
I am glad you told me, otherwise I should hardly have 
known your wishes on the subject. And now we will 


252 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

go on having good times together, and count out 
lovers.” 

“ Yes, yes.” She gave his hand a squeeze and was 
her own happy self, not feeling half as sorry for the 
man who would come to be denied as he did. 

It snowed furiously the next morning, and sullenly 
the day after. Then it was cold, and she said half a 
dozen times a day she was so glad she came home. 

She did not see Mr. Saltonstall when he called, and 
she really did miss him at two little companies. Then 
she wondered if she oughtn’t give one, she had gone 
to so many. 

“ Why, yes,” Cousin Chilian answered. She might 
have turned the house upside down so long as she was 
going to stay in it. 

Then she wondered if she ought to invite him. Mrs. 
Lynde and she were very good friends, and she should 
ask Avis, of course. They spoke — they were not ill 
friends. 

Chilian considered. “ Yes, I think I would,” he 
made answer. 

They had a merry time and danced on the beautiful 
rugs, and had a fine supper. And Mr. Saltonstall 
was glad to be friends. She was young and presently 
she might think of lovers. He would try and keep his 
chance good. 

Anthony came now and then and spent a Sunday 
with them. He loved to hear Cousin Chilian read 
Greek verses, but the pretty love odes seemed to mean 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 


253 


Cynthia, and he used to watch her. Then Ben Upham 
was a visitor as well, and used to play checkers with 
her, as that was considered quite a good exercise for 
one’s brains. 

Polly would be married in the spring, Alice Turner 
in June. The Turners were always besieging her for 
a two or three days’ visit, and the Turner young men 
hovered round her. She never seemed to do anything, 
she never demanded attention, but when she glanced 
up at them, or smiled, they followed her as the chil- 
dren did the Pied Piper. She might have led them 
into dangerous places, but she was very simple of 
heart. Yet the danger was alluring to them. 

Polly came to her for a good deal of counsel. When 
there were two patterns of sleeves, which should she 
take ? 

“ Why, I’d have the India silk made with this and 
the English gingham with that — you see it will iron so 
much easier. Miss Grayson does up the puffs on a 
shirring cord, then you can let them out in the wash- 
ing.” 

“ That’s a fine idea. You do have such splendid 
ideas, Cynthy.” 

“They are mostly Rachel Winn’s,” laughed the 
young girl. 

They had a capable woman in the kitchen now. 
Cynthia should have been mastering the high art of 
housekeeping, people thought, instead of running about 
so much and driving round in the pony carriage with 


254 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


Miss Winn, or a girl companion. Of course, there was 
plenty of money, but one never quite knew what would 
happen. 

John Loring was building his house as people who 
could did in those days. They would not be able to 
finish it all inside, and there was a nook left for an 
addition when they needed it. Polly was to have some 
of grandmother’s furniture, and John’s mother would 
provide a little. Corner cupboards were quite a sub- 
stitute in those days for china closets, and window- 
seats answered for chairs. But there was bedding and 
napery, and no one thought of levying on friends. 
Relatives looked over their stock and bestowed a few 
articles. Cynthia thought of the stores in the old house 
and wished she might donate them. She did pick out 
some laces from her store, and two pretty scarfs, one 
of which Polly declared would be just the thing to trim 
her wedding hat, which was of fine Leghorn. So she 
would only have to buy the feather. 

They haunted the stores and occasionally picked up 
a real bargain. Even at that period shoppers did not 
throw their money broadcast. 

“ Cynthia Leverett is the sweetest girl I know,” 
Polly said daily, and Bentley was of the same opinion. 

They were to stand at the wedding. 

“ And I want you to wear that beautiful frock that 
you had when Laura Manning was married. I shall 
only have two bridesmaids, you and Betty, but I want 
you to look your sweetest.” 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 


255 

And surely she did. They had a very nice wedding 
party and the next day Polly went to her own house 
and had various small tea-drinkings, and she arranged 
them for Saturday so Bentley could come up. They 
were wonderfully good friends, but Cynthia felt as if 
she had outgrown him. In her estimation he was just 
a big friendly boy that one could talk to familiarly. 
Anthony was more backward in the laughter and 
small-talk. 

Then there was the college degree. There was no 
such great fuss made over commencement then, no 
grand regattas, no inter-collegiate athletics, for it was 
a rather serious thing to begin a young man’s life and 
look forward to marriage. 

He went straight to Mr. Chilian. It was the proper 
thing to be fortified with the elders’ consent. Of 
course, he would not marry in some time yet, but if he 
could be her “ company ” and speak presently — they 
had been such friends. 

Chilian studied the honest young fellow, whose face 
was in a glow of hope. So young to dream of love 
and plan for the future! 

“ You are both too young; ” and his voice had a bit 
of sharpness in it. “ Cynthia is not thinking of such 
things.” 

“ But one can think of them. They begin somehow 
and go into your very life. I believe I’ve loved her a 
long while.” 

“ I think neither of you really know what love is. 


256 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

No, I cannot consent to it. I want her to go on having 
a good free time without any anxiety. I have some 
right to her, being her guardian.” 

“ But — I will wait — I didn’t mean to ask her im- 
mediately.” 

“ We are going on a journey presently. I can- 
not have her disturbed with this. No, your atten- 
tion must be devoted to business for the next two 
years.” 

He drew a long breath. “ But you don’t mean I 
must break off — everything?” and there was an un- 
steadiness in his voice. 

“ Oh, no. Not if you can keep to the old friendli- 
ness.” 

Then Chilian Leverett dropped into his easy-chair 
and thought. The child had grown very dear to him, 
she was a gift from her father. A tumultuous, uncom- 
prehended pain wrenched his very soul. To live with- 
out her — to miss her everywhere! To have lonely 
days, longer lonely evenings when the dreariness of 
winter set in. And yet she had a right to the sweet, 
rich draught of love. But she did not need it amid all 
the pleasures of youth. Let her have two or three 
years, even if it was blissful thoughtlessness. But he 
must put her on her guard. A young fellow soon 
changed his mind. The old couplet sang itself in his 
brain : 

“ If she be not fair for me, 

What care I how fair she be ? ” 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 


*57 

Did he get over his early love and forget? We all 
say, “ But ours was different.” 

How to find the right moment? Ben did not come 
over. She was very busy with this friend and that, 
youth finds so many interests. But one evening, when 
they were sitting on the porch in the moonlight, the 
young fellow walked slowly along, glanced at them, 
halted. 

She flew down to the gate. 

“ Oh, Ben, what has happened ? ” she cried, the most 
bewitching anxiety in her face. “ Why, you have not 
been in — for weeks.” 

“ Not quite two weeks.” Had it seemed so long to 
her? To him it had been months. 

“ Oh, come in. Cousin Chilian will be glad to see 
you.” 

The radiant cordiality in her face unnerved him. 

“ And you? ” Yes, he must know. 

“ Do you have to ask that question ? ” 

The sweet, dangerous eyes said too much, but the 
smile was that of amusement. 

So they walked up the path together. Mr. Leverett 
greeted him in a friendly manner. 

“ I thought I ought to come in and say good-bye. 
I’m going off on some business for father, and may not 
be back for several weeks.” 

“ That sounds as if you needed an apology for com- 
ing at all,” she commented with half-resentful gayety. 

He flushed and made no immediate reply. 


258 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

“ And we are going to take a journey as well. Up 
somewhere in Maine. Mr. Giles Leverett insists we 
shall, for our health, but I think it is our delightful 
company. He has to go to look after a large estate 
where some people think of founding a town. Isn’t it 
funny ? ” and she gave her bewitching laugh that was 
like the notes of silver bells, soft, yet clear. “ They 
must go off and build up new places. And some peo- 
ple are going West, as if there wasn’t room here. 
Have you noticed that we are overcrowded ? ” 

“ Well, sometimes along the docks it looks that 
way.” 

“ I like a good many people. Often Merrits’ is 
crowded, and it’s funny to catch bits of sentences. And 
at Plummer’s as well. Did you ever read right across 
the paper, one line in each column, and notice the odd 
and twisted-up sense it made? That’s about the way 
it sounds.” 

How bright and charming she was ! Ben could not 
keep his eyes from her radiant face. Was she really 
a coquette, Chilian wondered. Yet she was so simple 
with it all, so seemingly careless of the effect. That 
was the danger of it. 

He lingered like one entranced. Poor young lad! 
Chilian began to feel sorry for him. 

She walked down to the gate with him, and hoped 
they would have a nice time when autumn came, if he 
meant to stay in Salem. 

A young man not in love would have called her a 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 


2 59 


bright, merry, chatty girl. He went away with the 
consciousness that she liked him very much. Chilian 
asked her if she did. 

She glanced up wonderingly. 

“ Why — he is nice, and being Polly’s brother makes 
it — well, more familiar. Then we can talk about An- 
thony. I believe he didn’t like him much at first, but 
he does now.” 

Oh, how could he put her on her guard ! She was 
not dreaming of love. Saltonstall’s fancy had died out 
— no doubt this would, too. Lad’s love. Was it worth 
ruffling up the sunny artlessness ? But he would watch 
the young men closer now that he knew the danger 
line. 

He said simply to himself that he could not give her 
up to any one else so soon. There would be a long life 
of joy and satisfaction to her, and he knew she would 
not grudge him these few years. Then, too, he was 
quite certain she had not even had an imaginary fancy 
for these two men — Ben was nothing but a boy. 

Anthony Drayton was to join them. Miss Winn 
was to be Cynthia’s companion. Mrs. Stevens had 
refused to trust her precious self to any wilds, and 
bear and wolf hunts, though Mr. Giles declared they 
were not going to take guns along. He was not an 
enthusiastic hunter. As for Chilian, such sport did not 
attract him. 

The journey was partly by stage, partly on horse- 
back, and one or two days they left the ladies at the 


a6o A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

tavern where they stopped. Cynthia was charmed 
and amused at the uncouthness of the people and their 
dialect in some places, and positive good breeding in 
others. Anthony unearthed a college chum who was 
tally man at a sawmill. The new town was really 
making progress. A small chapel had been started, 
a schoolhouse built. And twenty years later it was a 
pretty town ; in fifty years an enterprising city. 

“ Anthony's going to be a first-class fellow. I 
should like to have such a son. Chilian, you and I 
should have married and have sons and daughters 
growing up. But at my time of life I should want 
them grown up. And smart, as well. I always feel 
sorry for the fathers of dull lads, when they have 
plenty of means to educate them. Yes, I should want 
mine to have a good supply of brains." 

Chilian Leverett enjoyed the change very much and 
the breath of spruce and pine was invigorating. But 
there was a little nervous feeling about Cynthia. 
Cousin Giles was somewhat of a lady's man, and he 
was on the continual lookout that Cynthia should not 
tire herself unduly, that she be assisted over the rough 
places, that she should have the best of everything. 
He was almost jealous at times. 

But Cynthia moved about gayly, serenely, full of 
merry little quips, seizing the small ridiculous events 
with such a sense of amusement that she inspirited 
them all. And he could not notice that she paid any 
more attention to Anthony than either of her seniors. 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 


261 


There was such a genuine frankness in all she said 
and did, a charm of manner that was just herself, and 
had none of the arts of society, but came from a heart 
that overflowed with spontaneous warmth, but was not 
directed to any particular person. 

Cousin Giles declared he was sorry to get back to 
Boston. He could not remember when he had enjoyed 
such a good time. Then in a business way it had been 
a success, which added to his satisfaction. 

They really had to stay in Boston one night. They 
would fain have kept Cynthia for a week, but she said 
she was tired of just changing from one frock to 
another, and longed for more variety. 

“ And Fm so glad to get back home again,” she cried 
delightedly. “ I’ve had a splendid time, and I like 
Anthony ever so much. Cousin Giles was so nice 
and fatherly. He ought to adopt Anthony and give 
him his name, and that would always make me think 
of father. But after all, home is best. Oh, suppose I 
was a waif, just being handed from one to another ! ” 

She looked frightened with the imaginary lot. She 
expressed emotions so easily. 

“ You couldn’t have been ; ” hoarsely. 

“ Cousin Chilian, if you had not been in the world, 
or if you hadn’t been willing to take me — I don’t 
think father knew much about Cousin Giles — why, I 
must have gone to strangers.” 

There were tears in her eyes, and a sweet melan- 
choly in her voice. 


262 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

She had so much to tell Cousin Eunice that it 
seemed really as if she had taken the journey with 
them. She put on Jane's faded gingham sunbonnet 
and gave her voice a queer nasal twang, and talked as 
some of the women did up there in the wilderness, who 
thought a city “ must be an awfully crowdy place an’ 
she jes’ didn't see how people managed to live in it. 
An’ as fer the sea, give her dry land every time." 

Then she talked the French-English patois of the 
emigrants from Canada, and told of their funny attire, 
and their log huts, sometimes with only one big room, 
with a stone chimney in the centre, and sawed logs 
for seats. 

“ They did that in Salem nigh on to two hundred 
years ago," said Cousin Eunice. 

“ How much people do learn by living," remarked 
the little girl sagely. 

Then the olden round began. Being asked out to 
tea and inviting in return, sewing bees, quilting par- 
ties when some girl was making an outfit. And though 
the elders shook their heads at such a waste of time, 
they went out to walk in the afternoon and stopped 
in the shops that were making a show on Essex Street 
and Federal Street. There was Miss Rust’s pretty 
millinery parlor — it had a sofa in the front room and 
a table with an embroidered cover that Cynthia had 
sent her. They talked of new styles and colors, and 
were aghast at the thought that royalty sometimes had 
as many as twenty hats and bonnets. She made pretty 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 263 

old lady caps as well, and she did love to hear the 
young girls chatter. And Molly Saunders was still 
baking gingerbread, that had delighted them as school 
children, and no one made such good spruce and sassa- 
fras beer. 

One evening at a dance she had a great sur- 
prise. Some one said, “ Miss Cynthia Leverett, Mr. 
Marsh.” 

A rather tall, ruddy, good-looking fellow, with laugh- 
ing eyes and an unmistakable sailor air, held her dainty 
hand and studied her face. 

“ Oh, you don’t know me ! ” in the jolliest of tones. 
“ And I should know you if you had been cast ashore 
on a rocky island and I were looking at you through 
a spyglass. You haven’t changed in the main, only to 
grow prettier. You were a poor pale little thing 
then.” 

“ Oh, I can’t think ! ” She flushed and smiled. 
Something in the hearty voice won her. 

“ At Dame Wilby’s school. And the bad boy who 
sat behind you — Tommy Marsh.” 

“ Oh ! oh ! And that day I sat on the floor ! ” She 
laughed gayly. She did not mind it a bit now. 

“ Wasn’t it funny? And the way you just sat still 
with the school in an uproar. You standing up there 
and ‘ sassing ’ back the old dame ! Such a mite of a 
thing, too. My ! but you were a plucky one ! ” in ad- 
miration. And you never came to school after that. 
I ought to get down on my knees and beg your pardon 


264 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

for the sly pinches I gave you, and the times I 
tweaked your curly hair. I’ve half a mind to do it.” 

“ Oh, no ! ” and she made a funny gesture of alarm, 
and both laughed. 

“ And I’ve been over there to India, where you came 
from, and found some people who knew your father. 
I’ve been to sea seven years, three on this last cruise, 
and when the Vixen is repaired and refitted I’m going 
out again as first mate. One of these days I shall be a 
captain.” 

How proud and strong he looked. Why, one 
couldn’t help liking him. 

“ I wonder if I might dance with you ? ” 

“ Oh, do you dance ? I thought sailors — and there 
are no girls ” and she blushed at her incoherence. 

“ I think we do a little. Where did you get the 
Sailor’s Hornpipe from? We’re sorry about not hav- 
ing girls, but we make it answer. And when you get 
in the doldrums, or becalmed, it stirs up your blood. 
Oh, they are taking their places.” 

Ben was in the same quadrille. Every time he 
touched her hand he gave it a pressure that made her 
cheeks rosier. Altogether it was a delightful evening. 

Cousin Chilian came for her. He had found she 
preferred it. 

“ Oh, Cousin Chilian, I’ve had such a funny adven- 
ture. Perhaps you can recall the little boy I really 
hated that week I went to the dame’s school. Well, 
he is a nice big fellow now, and we had a talk, and he 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 


265 

has been to Calcutta and seen people who knew father. 
I want him to come so we can have a good long talk, 
and won’t you ask him? You’ll like him, I know. I’ll 
find him and bring him to you, and you can ask him to 
come while I’m putting on my things. ,, 

She hunted him up and he was very pleased to meet 
Mr. Leverett. She gave them quite a while, for she 
was chatting with the girls about some weddings on 
the tapis. 

She gave Mr. Marsh her hand and a smile that 
would have set almost any masculine heart beating. 
It must have been bom with her, though it was piti- 
fully appealing in the childhood days. Now the true, 
sweet nature shone through it, lending it a fascinating 
radiance. 

Mr. Leverett said he should be glad to have him call 
while he was in port, and the young man thanked him 
and said he should give himself the pleasure. 

“And when he does come,” said the little lady in 
her half-coaxing, half-imperious way, “ can’t we have 
him up in the study? You see, it does very well for 
half a dozen of us to be down in the parlor, but it gets 
kind of stiff and not cheerful with just one. And 
you’ll like to talk to him.” 

He assented readily. Ben always came up in the 
study, though now he would rather have been alone 
with Cynthia. There were some things he meant to 
say, if he ever had a chance, in spite of youth and 
guardianship. 


266 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

Mr. Marsh did not lose much time considering. The 
very next week he called. 

They found him a nice, agreeable, well-informed 
young man, a true sailor lad, and like many a Yankee 
boy, he kept adding to his stock of knowledge where- 
ever he went. He had drawn some useful charts of 
seaports and islands he knew about, their products and 
climates, and really his descriptions were as good as a 
geography. 

“ There’s no doubt Salem has the lead in the for- 
eign trade, but we’re going to be pushed hard the next 
few years. Other cities have found out the profit in it. 
But we’ve some of the best captains, and that’s what I 
mean to be myself.” 

At Calcutta they still held a warm remembrance of 
Captain Anthony Leverett. And Marsh thought it 
quite a wonderful thing that the little girl had gone 
back and forth and braved all the perils. He told them 
of a pirate ship they had once battled with and the rich 
stores they had taken from her. The prisoners had 
been left on an island. 

“ But— how would they get to their homes ? ” she 
asked. 

“ Oh, that wasn’t our lookout. They’d have done 
the same thing to us if they could, maybe worse. Oc- 
casionally vessels are wrecked, and sometimes it is 
months before a ship goes that way and sees their 
signal.” 

Yes, she was glad nothing of the kind had happened 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 267 

to her. And Chilian, watching the little shiver, gave 
thanks also. 

Thomas Marsh enjoyed these evenings wonderfully. 
He was always glancing at Cynthia to see if what he 
said met with her approval. It seemed so strangely 
sweet to be thrilled at the tones of her voice and the 
touch of her hand. And when she looked up and 
smiled, the blood surged to his brain. He was quite a 
favorite with the girls, but no other one had that power 
over him. 

Of course, they met here and there at the different 
companies — he never went unless she was sure to be 
there, and if he asked she answered frankly. Cousin 
Chilian took her down to see the Vixen, which was 
nearly ready for her new cruise. He was very proud 
of her, so was Captain Langfelt, and they had some tea 
in the cabin. But some sudden knowledge came to 
Chilian Leverett, and he was sincerely glad the young 
man was going away. 

The evening Thomas Marsh came in to say good- 
bye, she was alone. 

“ You’ll find Miss Cynthia up in the study,” said 
Jane, and thither he went two steps at a time. She 
had on a soft gown, and he thought she looked like 
some lovely flower as she rose to greet him. 

“ I believe we are to sail to-morrow. Stores and 
cargo are all in, and now the captain is in haste to be 
off. Come down about eleven in the morning and wish 
me God-speed, a safe journey, and a happy return.” 


268 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Yes. We were talking of it to-day. Oh, I hope 
you will have all, though a great many things happen 
in three years.” Neither of them, indeed no one, could 
have predicted what was to happen in those eventful 
three years. 

They discussed the pleasant times, the girls and boys 
who had grown up and married during the whole seven 
years of his absence. Oh, how sweet and pretty she 
was ! He envied the boys like Bentley Upham and two 
or three others who had business at home — but no, he 
never could have been anything but a sailor. 

Then he rose to go. He stood holding her hand and 
the red and white kept flitting over her face, her eyes 
were so soft and dark. They would haunt him many a 
night on the deck. 

“ It’s best that I am going so soon,” he began in a 
rather tremulous voice. “ Do you remember what 
your uncle was reading the other day about the man 
who wanted to be lashed to the mast when they passed 
the Syrens? It would be that way with me if I staid 
much longer. I — I wouldn’t be able to help loving 
you, and I doubt whether it would be a good thing for 
either of us. I’ve tried all along to keep it to a plain, 
honest like, but I know now it is more than that. I 
shall take away with me the remembrance of the sweet- 
est girl in all the world, and I have no right to spoil her 
life. But sometimes maybe you’ll think of a far-away 
lad, who sends you his love and the best wishes for 
your happiness with the man you will love best of all.” 


LOVERS AND LOVERS 169 

Then he pressed her hand to his lips and went slowly 
down the stairs. She heard the door shut. And, fool- 
ish girl, she sat down and cried, and there Cousin Chil- 
ian found her, and had to listen and absolve. 

“ No,” he said, “ it would not do for you to have a 
sailor lad. Your tender heart would break with the 
anxiety. He’s a nice, upright fellow, and he will never 

shirk a duty. But you ” What should he say to 

her? 

“ I want to stay here. Oh, I wonder if you will like 
me when I get as old as Cousin Eunice, and the world 
will change and improve and I shall be queer and old- 
fashioned ? ” 

He held her in his arms, but he was shocked to find 
what was in his own heart. 


CHAPTER XVI 


PERILOUS PATHS 

Avis Manning’s “ Company ” was one of the events 
of the season. She was a full-fledged young lady, and 
knowing she could have her choice of the young men 
of Salem, was rather difficult to capture. She and her 
brother-in-law were very good friends, but not lovers. 
And Laura, who knew where his fancy lay, counselled 
him to go slowly, though she was quite sure he would 
win in the end. 

“ You see, she is like a child to Mr. Chilian Leverett, 
and he is loath to part with her. But all girls do marry 
sooner or later, and he isn’t selfish enough to want her 
to stay single. If he was not so much older he might 
marry her — they are not own cousins, you know.” 

“ He marry her ! Why, he’s getting to be quite an 
old man,” and there was a touch of disdain in his tone. 
“ But there’s half a dozen others ” 

“ It’s queer, but she isn’t a flirt. She’s one of the 
sweetest of girls — she was, at school. And with her 
fortune she might hold herself high. They say the 
Boston trustee has doubled some of it that he invested.” 

“ I wish she hadn’t a cent ! ” the young man flung 
out angrily. 


270 


PERILOUS PATHS 


271 


“ Well, money is not to be despised. She’ll get a 
little tired by and by, and long for a home and children 
of her own, as we all do. And if you haven’t found 
any one else ” 

“ I never shall find any one like her ; ” gloomily. 

“ Oh, there are a great many nice girls in the world.” 

Avis knew all the best people in Salem, it was not 
so large, after all. And they came to the beautiful 
house and made merry, played “ guessing words ” — 
what we call charades, quite a new thing then — and it 
made no end of merriment. Of course, Cynthia was in 
them, was arch and piquant, and delighted the audi- 
ence. Then they had supper and more dancing. One 
of the Turner boys, Archibald, hovered about Cynthia 
like a shadow. There was Ben Upham, but Edward 
Saltonstall warded them off to her satisfaction. But 
Bella Turner was shortly to be married, and Archie 
would have her for that evening surely. 

She and Mr. Saltonstall were very good friends. 
He was a little older than the others, and grown wary 
by experience. But it was queer that half a dozen girls 
were pulling straws for him and here was one who did 
not care, would not raise a finger, but, oh, how sweet 
her smiles were. 

“ If you are a bridesmaid the third time, you will 
never be a bride,” said some of the wiseacres. 

Cynthia tossed her proud, dainty head and laughed 
over it to Cousin Chilian. He looked a little grave. 

“Would you mind if I were an old maid? I 


272 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


wouldn’t really be old in a long while, you know. And 
you will always want some one. If anything should 
happen to Cousin Eunice, how lonely you would 
be.” 

“ Yes, if you went away.” 

“ I don’t care for any of them very much. I like Mr. 
Saltonstall the best. He isn’t quite so young, so — so 
sort of impetuous. And the boys get jealous.” 

Then it was likely to be Mr. Saltonstall, after all! 
Was he going to be narrow and mean enough to keep 
her out of what was best in a woman’s life? But he 
looked down the dreary years without her. He could 
not attach himself to the world of business as Cousin 
Giles did. Some of these young fellows might come 
into a sort of sonship with him — there was Anthony 
Drayton. 

Why was it his soul protested against them ? He 
did not understand the deep underlying dissent that 
made a cruel discordance in his desire for her happi- 
ness. 

Mr. Saltonstall walked home from church with her 
and Miss Winn. And he came in one evening to ask 
some advice. He had cudgelled his brain for days to 
find just the right subject. That ended, they had a talk 
about chess — that was becoming quite an interest in 
some circles. There were several moves that puzzled 
him. 

“ Come in some evening and talk them over,” said 
Mr. Leverett. 


PERILOUS PATHS 


273 

Edward Saltonstall wondered at the favor of the 
gods and accepted. Not as if he was in any vulgar 
hurry, but he dropped in, politely social, and asked if 
he should disturb them. Chilian had been reading 
Southey’s “ Thalaba.” 

“ Oh, no. We often read in the evening,” said 
Cynthia. 

She was netting a bead bag, an industry all the 
rage then among the women. They really were pret- 
tier than the samplers. But she rose and brought the 
box of chessmen, while he rolled the table from its 
corner. 

“ Will I disturb you if I stay? ” she asked. 

“ Not unless it interferes with Mr. Saltonstall’s at- 
tention,” said Chilian, then bit his lip. 

“ Oh, I do not think it will ; ” smilingly. 

“ You are very good to bother with a tyro. I’d like 
to be able to play a good game. Father is so fond of it, 
and Lynde seldom comes in nowadays — family cares ; ” 
laughingly. 

They led off very well. Saltonstall was wise enough 
to try his best, though out of one eye he watched the 
dainty fingers threading in and out among the colored 
beads, and could not help thinking he would rather be 
holding them and pressing kisses on the soft white 
hand. Then he made a wrong play. 

“ We may as well turn back,” said Mr. Leverett, 
“ since the question at stake is not winning, but im- 
proving.” 


274 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ You are very good/’ returned the young man 
meekly. 

This time they went on a little further, but the result 
was the same. So with the third game. 

“ Of course, I could let you win,” Mr. Leverett be- 
gan, “ but that wouldn’t conduce to the real science of 
the game which a good player desires. But you do 
very well for a young man. I should keep on, if I 
were you.” 

“ And annoy you with my shortcomings ? ” 

“ Oh, it will not be annoyance, truly. Come in when 
you feel like it.” 

“ Thank you.” Then he said good-night in a 
friendly, gentlemanly manner, and Cynthia rose and 
bowed. 

After that she gathered up her work and said good- 
night. Chilian sat and thought. Edward Saltonstall 
was a nice, steady young fellow; that is, he neither 
gamed, nor drank, nor went roystering round in the 
taverns jollying with the sailors, as some of the sons 
of really good families did. He would not have all his 
fortune to make, and his father’s business was well es- 
tablished. The sons would take it. The two daughters 
were well married. What more could he ask for Cyn- 
thia ? She was not so young now and would know her 
own mind. 

Yet it gave his heart a sharp, mysterious wrench, a 
longing for what he was putting away, the essence of 
the solemn ideals of love that run through the intri- 


PERILOUS PATHS 


275 

cate meshes of the human soul. He knew that he loved 
her, that he wanted her for his very own, and his con- 
science told him it was not right. Of all her admirers 
he liked this one the best. Under other circumstances 
he would have considered him an admirable young 
man. 

Saltonstall dropped in now and then, not too often. 
He did not mean to startle any one with his purpose, 
but to let it grow gradually. Still, at the last assembly 
of the season, his attentions were somewhat pro- 
nounced. It was partly her doings, she was sheltering 
herself from other rather warm indications. 

A few days later she went over to Polly Loring’s 
with her work. Polly’s bag had somehow gone wrong. 
Cynthia had to cut the thread and ravel out a round. 
The baby was to be admired as well as the chair seat 
Polly had begun in worsted work, which was the new 
accomplishment. And they talked over various mat- 
ters : who had new gowns, new lovers, and new babies. 
But every time she came almost to the subject so near 
her heart, Cynthia made an elusive detour. Then she 
ventured out straight with her question. 

“ Cynthia, are you going to take Ed Saltonstall ? ” 

Cynthia’s face was scarlet. 

“ He hasn’t asked me, he hasn’t even asked Cousin 
Chilian,” but her voice was not quite steady. 

“ How do you know ? It was talked of at the as- 
sembly — the two men were a good deal together. And 
if you don’t mean anything, Cynthia, you’ll get your- 


276 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


self gossiped about, and you’ll spoil some lives,” de- 
clared Polly spiritedly. This thing had been seething 
in her mind, and she was going to have it out at the 
risk of breaking friendship. 

“ I don’t want to spoil any one’s life. And I’ve 
never really kept company with any one.” 

The keeping company was the great test. When 
the young man came steady one night in the week, to 
Sunday tea, and went to church with the girl alone, 
the matter was as good as declared. 

“But — well, I don’t know how you’ve done it, but 
they hang about you and it does upset them. First it’s 
one, then it’s another. You ought to know. You 
ought to settle upon one and let the others alone.” 

Polly had acquired a good deal of married wisdom, 
and she really did love Cynthia. Ben loved her, too. 

“ But suppose I didn’t want any of them ? ” and Cyn- 
thia tried to laugh, but it was a poor shadowy attempt. 

“Oh, nonsense ! You don’t mean to be an old maid. 
No girl does. But it is time you stopped playing fast 
and loose with hearts. Now there’s Ben. You know 
he’s loved you this long while. And we all like you so. 
Last fall he quite gave up and went to see Jenny Will- 
ing. She’ll make a good wife and she’s a nice girl, 
though she hasn’t your fortune. Mother’s been trying 
to make him believe that you are looking higher.” 

“Oh, Polly — I never scarcely think of my fortune,” 
Cynthia interrupted, her face full of distressful color. 

“ Well, I’m not saying that you do. Ben’s getting 


PERILOUS PATHS 


277 


along first-rate. He has a college degree and father 
isn’t poor. I know several girls who would jump at 
a chance for him. Of course, we would all rather have 
you. Then at Avis Manning’s party you gave him the 
sweetest of your smiles, and lured him back.” 

Oh, she recalled it with a kind of shame. It was to 
keep off Archie Turner and Mr. Saltonstall. And then 
for a while he had grown troublesome. If they could 
be merely friends! 

“The thing is just here, Cynthia. I know I’m speak- 
ing plainly and you may get angry. If you don’t want 
Ben, let him alone. A young man begins to think of a 
home and a wife of his own, and when he likes a girl 
very much — yes, I will say it, she can make or mar. 
She can take him away from some other nice girl. 
And people now are beginning to say you are a flirt. 
I think Jenny will make Ben a nice wife, and if you 
don’t want him ” 

“ Oh, Polly, I don’t want any of them. You can’t 
think how delightful life is with Cousin Chilian. I 
couldn’t be as happy anywhere else, or with any other 
person. I can’t make myself fall in love as all of you 
girls have, and think this one or that one perfect. 
Something must be wrong with me. And I’m very 
sorry. I’m not a bit jealous when they take to other 
girls. Why, I’d be glad to be Jenny’s bridesmaid if she 
wanted me to.” 

Cynthia paused and mopped the tears from her 
cheeks. Polly was a little subdued. Cynthia was tak- 


278 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

in g this so meekly. But she said rather spitefully, 
“ You had better marry Mr. Leverett.” 

Ah, Polly, it was a dangerous seed to fling at a 
young girl. And it dropped on a bit of out of the way 
fruitful soil. 

Cynthia rose quietly. She was very pale. She be- 
gan to roll up her work. 

“ Now I think you can go on with it,” she said. “ If 
you get in trouble again, let me know.” 

Then the two friends looked at each other until the 
tears came into their eyes. 

“ I’m very sorry,” murmured Cynthia in a broken 
voice. 

“ But you see ” 

“ Yes. I understand. I hope Ben will be very 
happy.” 

Afterward Polly sat down and cried. She knew Ben 
loved Cynthia so. They had counted on having her in 
the family. But she felt quite certain now that Ed 
Saltonstall would get her. And he was a flirt, going 
with every pretty girl, every new girl for a little 
while. 

Cynthia went home in a very sober mood. Why had 
they all cared so much about her? They had nice at- 
tractive qualities, but why could they not look at her 
just as she looked at them! She did not know very 
much about men and that with them pursuit often 
merged into the strong desire for possession, which 
she did not understand. But she did not want to be 


PERILOUS PATHS 


279 

blamed. She would have none of them. Cousin Chil- 
ian was more to her. If he seldom danced and was 
never very gay, there were so many other require- 
ments to life; there was something in his nature to 
which hers responded readily. 

Then suddenly she seemed to have lost the clue. 
She experienced a season of bewilderment. Was 
Cousin Chilian meaning she should take Mr. Salton- 
stall for a lover? He surely gave him opportunities 
he had given no other. Sometimes he excused him- 
self and went out. There were some difficulties with 
the mother country that men were discussing. She 
really felt a little awkward at being left alone with 
Mr. Saltonstall. Not only that, but it awoke a strange 
terror in her soul that he should come so near ; it was 
as if her whole being rose in arms. 

Occasionally Chilian spoke of her marriage — he had 
always said she was too young, in a protesting manner. 
So on one occasion she gained courage. 

“ Do you mean — that is — you would like to — have 
me married, Cousin Chilian ? ” 

Married! It was as if she had given him a stab. 
And yet was not that just the thing he had been think- 
ing of? 

“ Why, you see, Cynthia,” he made his voice pur- 
posely cold, “ I am much older than you. I may die 
some day. Cousin Eunice will no doubt go before me, 
and you would not like to go on alone. Then Giles 
is older even than I. One has to think of these things. 


28 o a LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

Yes, it would be nice to know you were happily set- 
tled.” 

“ And why couldn’t a woman live alone as well as a 
man? I could have Miss Winn, and a housekeeper, 
and a man ” 

“ It’s a lonely life for a woman.” 

“ But why not for a man ? ” 

“ Oh, well, that is different. Only a few men do. 
And they grow queer and opinionated.” 

A fortnight ago she would have protested and said, 
“ You are not old, you are not opinionated,” in her 
eager, girlish manner. Now she was hurt, and she 
could not tell why; so she kept silent. 

And she began to note a change in him. The de- 
lightful harmony in which they had lived fell below the 
major key into minors, that touched and pierced her. 
He did not come so often to listen to her music, to ask 
her for a song, to watch while she painted some pretty 
flower, to go around with her training roses, or cutting 
them for the house. She put a few of them every- 
where ; she did not like great bunches, only such things 
as grew in clusters, lilacs and syringas and long sprays 
of clematis. She missed the little walks around, and 
the dear talks they used to have. 

She felt somewhat deceitful in planning adroitly. 
She made Miss Winn go to church with her, and when 
they came home with Mr. Saltonstall they sat on the 
porch together. A girl thinking of a lover would have 
asked him in. Then she went down to Boston, and 


PERILOUS PATHS 


281 


Anthony came over as often as he could. Surely there 
was no danger with him. 

All this time Chilian Leverett was having a hard 
fight with himself. He was really ashamed of having 
been conquered by what he called a boy’s romantic pas- 
sion. He could excuse himself for the early lapse ; he 
was a boy then. His honor and what he called good 
sense were mightily at war with this desire that well- 
nigh overmastered him. True, men older than he had 
married young wives. But this child had been en- 
trusted to him in a sacred fashion by her dying father ; 
he must place before her the best and richest of life, 
even if it condemned him to after-years of joyless 
solitude. 

For it was not as a father he loved her, though he 
had played a little at fatherhood in the beginning. She 
was so companionable, they had so many similar tastes. 
He was so fond of reading to an appreciative listener, 
and even as he sat in the darkness, when she did not 
know he was alone in the study, he could see her 
lovely eyes raised in their tender light. He thought 
this her unusual wisdom and discernment, never 
dreaming it had been mostly his training and her re- 
ceptiveness. And to think of the house without her! 
Why, going out of it in her wedding gown would be 
almost as if she had been laid in her shroud and shut 
away. Of course, he could not have her here and see 
her love another. 

Giles Leverett’s dream was much happier. In his 


282 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

mind he saved her for his favorite. When Anthony 
was through — and he was putting in law, with the 
classics — he would take him in his office, where he 
would find much business made to his hand. The 
house was big enough for them all, and he had grown 
curiously interested in young people. Anthony was 
very fond of his sweet, fascinating cousin — they all 
were. He did not know whether there was any one in 
Salem quite good enough for her. Saltonstall was a 
rather trifling fellow, whose fancies were evanescent. 

But Mr. Ed Saltonstall had a good friend in Mrs. 
Stevens, and she counselled him not to be too ardent 
in his pursuit. She said pleasant little things about 
him without any effusiveness. She considered his 
friendship with her very charming — young men were 
not generally devoted to middle-aged women. Once 
she shrewdly wondered why he had not made some 
errand down. 

Altogether it was a pleasant visit, though Cynthia 
kept revolving her duty, if such there was in the case. 
A blind, mysterious asking for something haunted her, 
something it would be sad to miss out of her life. 

Then she came home alone in the stage. There was 
a property dispute going on, where Mr. Leverett was 
an important witness for a friend. When the stage 
stopped, Rachel and Jane both ran out and gave her a 
joyful welcome. 

“ Oh, dear ! ” exclaimed Cousin Eunice, “ we are 
so glad to get you back. You are the light of the 


PERILOUS PATHS 


283 

house, isn’t she ? ” glancing at the other. " Even Chil- 
ian has been mopey, though I think he isn’t well. He 
is getting thin, too, and goodness knows he had no 
flesh to lose. Oh, my dear, I hope you will never go 
away again while I live ; ” and she gave a long sigh as 
the girl left the room. 

She came down presently in a cheerful light frock 
and began to tell Cousin Eunice and Jane what she 
had seen and heard. She was in the full tide of this, 
eager, bright, and flushing when Chilian entered. He 
greeted her rather languidly. Yes, he had grown 
thinner, and Cousin Giles was putting on too much 
flesh and growing jollier. Chilian did not look well 
and an ache went all over Cynthia’s body, every nerve 
being sympathetic. He was not silent, however; he 
asked questions, but she thought he was hardly paying 
attention to the answers. He remained down in the 
sitting-room and read his Gazette , now and then mak- 
ing some comment, or answering some query of 
Cousin Eunice. It was not nine yet when he rose and 
said, “ He was very tired ; if they would excuse him, 
he would go to bed.” 

They all went presently. She was glad to be alone 
in the room, glad there was no moon, and she turned 
her face over on the pillow and cried softly. After 
all, life was a riddle — two ways and not knowing 
which to take, both having a curiously lonely ending. 
Could she not bear it better alone? If he should go 
away as her father had done, if she should stay here 


284 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

in the old house, and then Cousin Eunice would fold 
her hands in that silent clasp, Rachel would slip into 
old womanhood, Jane would marry, she was keeping 
company now. There would be other Janes and 
she 

On the other hand would be love, marriage, children 
maybe, a pleasant home. Living along side by side, 
as other people did. 

She did not try to shut out either vision. Which 
should she take? Was life just for one’s self? 

She was not morbid. It was only in religion that 
people took out their very souls and examined them 
for lurking sins; the days’ duties were what must be 
accomplished, whether or no. She knew she was not 
very religious, the deep things seemed beyond her 
grasp. And there was a certain joyousness in her love 
for sunshine, flowers, people, and all the attractive 
things of life. She was deeply grateful, she raised 
her heart in thankfulness to God for every good 
gift. And now she took up the daily duties cheer- 
fully. It was not their fault the shadow had fallen 
over them. 

Some days afterward she was rambling around 
aimlessly, when she met a girl friend, and they chatted 
about various matters. 

“ Oh,” exclaimed the friend, “ there’ll be another 
wedding in the autumn, and Betty Upham is keeping 
steady company. I used to have an idea that you and 
Ben would make a match — — ” 


PERILOUS PATHS 


285 

“ It’s Jenny Willing,” she interrupted. “ And I am 
heartily glad.” 

“ You were all such friends; ” looking puzzled. 

“ And I hope we will go on being friends. I have 
always liked Jenny.” 

“ She was awfully afraid you’d cut her out. You 
know he did fancy you first. I think she would have 
been very unhappy if she had missed him. I don’t see 
what there is about you, Cynthia ; ” studying her in- 
tently. “ You are pretty, but there are some hand- 
some girls in Salem. And they run after Ed Salton- 
stall as if there was no other man in town. And my 
advice to you is to seize on him, for I think your 
chance best. He’s an awful flirt, though. I think 
good-looking men always are.” 

Cynthia flushed. Why should these things be pro- 
faned by foolish gossip. 

Polly came over one afternoon. She had accom- 
plished the bag and was proud enough of it. And she 
announced Bentley’s engagement. 

“ They will be married in the early fall ; they are 
not going to build, but have part of that double house 
of Nelsons’. She’ll make a fine, economical wife, and 
that is what men need who are trying to get along. 
Assemblies and all that are not the thing for prudent 
married people.” 

“ And one gets tired of them.” She had a feeling 
just then that she should never want to dance any 


more. 


286 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


Cynthia was glad to have him settled, glad Jenny 
Willing had the man she loved. 

And the last time he had come back to her she had 
held up her finger to him thoughtlessly, to shield her- 
self from some other pointed attentions. It had been 
a mean thing to do. But she had only meant it for 
that evening, and he had gone on importunately. 
She was ashamed of it now. Yes, she had better 
marry ; then no one would be pleading for favors, mis- 
taking a simple smile for deeper meaning. Was her 
smile different from that of other girls? 

She watched Cousin Chilian narrowly. Was the 
old dear freedom between them gone? He seemed 
rather abstracted. He did not call her into the study, 
he went out oftener of an evening. Mr. Saltonstall 
would pass by, then turn and walk up the path and 
sit down on the step. This would occur several times 
a week. He asked her to ride with him, but she shrank 
from that. She went over one evening on special in- 
vitation, when Chilian was to play chess with the 
father. Mrs. Saltonstall took her in quite as if she 
was one of the family, and really was very sweet to 
her. And the old gentleman was fatherly. 

That seemed to settle it for her, rather the fact that 
sank deeper in her mind every day that Cousin Chil- 
ian wished her to marry and that this young man was 
his preference. She allowed him to come a little 
nearer, to hold her hand, to take nameless small free- 
doms, and he was always delicate. 


PERILOUS PATHS 


287 


Would he be satisfied without all she could not help 
withholding? Would it be right to give him a half 
love? But then how could she help loving Cousin 
Chilian, who had been so tender to her in childhood? 
She would be gladly content to stay without any nearer 
tie between them; of course, that other could not be 
thought of. 

One night Mr. Saltonstall asked her in a manly 
fashion. And suddenly a great white light shot up in 
her heart, and loving one man she knew she had no 
right to deceive another, to live a deception all her life 
long, to cheat him — yes, it was that. Better a hundred 
times to live out her flawed life alone. 

“ Oh, I cannot,” she murmured. " I — I” — she 
choked down the strangling sob. 

“ My little darling, give me the opportunity to teach 
you what love really is. You do not know.” 


CHAPTER XVII 


THE FLOWERING OF THE SOUL 

Cynthia had said coldly that she did not wish to 
marry at present, perhaps never. “ I have been trying 
to love you to — to please some one else, and it is a 
compliment for you to ask me. But any woman ought 
to be sure before she makes a life-long promise. I 
must be honest — with you, with myself.” 

Something in the solemn tone awed him. He had 
not been looking at the serious side of love. She was 
pretty, bright, and winsome, with a good deal of Puri- 
tan simplicity, a great power of enjoyment and diffi- 
cult to win. He liked to do the winning himself. He 
liked to find some new qualities in girls, and Cynthia, 
with all her daintiness, had many sides that surprised 
one. She had been brought up by a man — that made 
the difference. 

“ We will wait a little,” he said. “ Talk to your 
cousin about it. I think it will all come right. You 
are the first woman I ever desired to marry, and I 
have been fond of girls, too.” 

That would have flattered some women. She said 
good-night in a strained, breathless tone, and vanished 


288 


THE FLOWERING OF THE SOUL 289 

through the door. He sat and thought. There was 
no other lover, he was quite sure. 

She went to bed at once. She did not cry, she was 
somehow stunned at this revelation about herself, for 
she had resolved to accept him and this sudden protest 
told her that it was quite impossible. If Cousin Chil- 
ian was disappointed, if he was tired of her, there was 
a warm welcome in Boston. 

She did not sleep much. Rachel noted her heavy 
eyes, and the expression as if she might be secretly 
upbraiding fate. What if Mr. Saltonstall had been 
trifling? 

Chilian went up to his study. He felt languid, he 
nearly always did now. He took a book and sat by 
the open window. Two tall trees hid the prospect, 
except a space of blooming garden. To-day a small 
outlook pleased him, for his life was to be made nar- 
rower. She would come and tell him — shut the 
golden gate forever. He could not, would not, enter 
their paradise. Let him keep quite on the outside. 

She came in a soft, white gown that clung to her 
virginal figure. The swelling-out period had passed, 
even sleeves had collapsed to a small puff, and for 
house wear the arms and neck were left bare. 

The book was a Greek play. The letters danced be- 
fore her eyes as she stood there. He looked off the 
book, but not up at her. 

“ Cousin Chilian, I want to tell you ” — her voice 
had the peculiar softness that one uses to try to cover 


290 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


the hurt one cannot help giving — “ Mr. Saltonstall 
was here last evening. He has asked me to marry 
him.” 

It seemed to her the silence lasted moments. Then 
he said in an incurious tone, “Well?” 

“ I — will you be angry or disappointed when I con- 
fess that I cannot, that I do not love him.” 

“ Oh, Cynthia, child ; what do you know about 
love ? ” he said impatiently. 

“ Enough to know that it would be wrong to take 
a man's love and give him nothing in return.” Now 
her voice was steady, convincing. 

He had a sudden thought. Like a vision the stal- 
wart form of the young sailor rose before him. He 
had carried admiration, yes, love in his eyes. What 
if he had carried more than that away ? 

“ Cynthia, is there some one else, some one you 
could love ” 

“ There is some one else.” Her tone was very 
low, but brave. That admission would settle the 
matter. 

“ Are you to wait three years for him? ” 

“For whom?” in surprise. 

Then he glanced up. Her face, that had been lily- 
white, was flushed from brow to neck. What was 
there in the beautiful, entreating eyes? 

“ Cynthia ? ” All his firmness gave way. 

His arm stole softly around her, drew her a trifle 
down. “Tell me! Tell me!” he cried, yet he had 


THE FLOWERING OF THE SOUL 


291 

no idea he was asking her to lay her heart bare. There 
was still the boy Anthony. 

“ Cousin Chilian, if a woman loved very much, 
would it be a shame to her if, unasked, she ” 

Her head sank down on his shoulder. He felt the 
warm, throbbing breath on his cheek. He drew her 
closer. Did the slim, palpitating body betray its 
secret ? 

“ Oh, Cynthia, child, the most precious thing in all 
the world to me, tell me that I will not have to give 
you to another, that I may keep you to myself. For I 
cannot comprehend how so great a joy could come to 
me. And whether I would have the right to take your 
sweet young life, that should be replete with the joys 
of youth, with the gladness that is its proper birth- 
right.” 

“ If I gave it to you? If I could never have given 
it to any other ? ” 

He drew her down closer, and the gentle yielding, 
the sort of rapturous sigh, answered him better than 
any words. He pressed kisses on the unresisting lips, 
kisses that then were sacred to affianced lovers and 
husbands. 

Was it an hour or half a lifetime? He inclined her 
to his knee as he had when she was a little girl, but at 
length he came back to his senses. 

“ Cynthia,” he began with tender gravity, “ there 
are many points to consider. Do you know that I am 
more than double your age ” 


292 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


“ Don’t tell that to me. Isn’t love as sweet? ” 

Could he deny it in the face of that ravishing smile, 
those appealing eyes. 

“ Still — the world will think about it. And you are 
a rich young woman, you could take your pick of 
lovers ” 

“ But they are all so troublesome,” she interrupted. 
“And one gets affronted with the other. And if I 
picked very much I might be called a flirt, perhaps 
I have been. I didn’t want them, only to dance and 
be merry with, and there are so many pretty girls in 
the world — enough for all of them.” 

He smiled a little and it gave her a heartache to see 
how thin he had grown, and there were new creases 
in his forehead that had been so fair and smooth. 

“ And if some day you should repent ? ” 

“ I’m not going to repent. Why should one when 
one gets the thing one wanted ? ” 

There was a touch of the old brightness in her tone. 
Had she really wanted him? 

“ I’ve been very naughty with all these lovers, 
haven’t I ? But no one came near enough to really ask 
me that question until last night, though Mr. Marsh 
thought he would if he were going to stay. And 
Cousin Chilian, I had made up my mind truly, I 
thought, for I liked Mr. Saltonstall very much, and it 

seemed to me you wanted me to ” Her voice died 

away in pathos. 

“ I did. Oh, you must know the worst of me. 


THE FLOWERING OF THE SOUL 


293 


When I found you were growing into my very heart, 
and I began to feel jealous of the young men, I took 
myself in hand as a most reprehensible old fellow. 
But I found you had entwined yourself in every fibre 
of my heart, and it was hard indeed to uproot you.” 

“ And you really tried ? ” Her tone was upbraid- 
ing. 

“ I tried like an honest, upright man. I shall never 
be ashamed of the effort. I would not mar or spoil 
your life. You see you might have loved some of these 
brave young lads. You might have been very happy 
with them.” 

“ Oh, you can't have but one husband ; ” in laughing 
gayety. 

He flushed at her mischief. 

“ I wonder when you began to love me ? And what 
has made you so cold and distant, as if you were 
taking your affection away ? ” 

“ I was — I was — Heaven forgive me ! I was learn- 
ing to live without you ; to go back to a life more soli- 
tary than it was before you came. And, Cynthia, you 
were not altogether a welcome guest. I did not know 
what to do with a little girl. I was set in my ways. 
I did not like to be disturbed. I could have sent a boy 
off to school. And Elizabeth thought it a trouble, too. 
You must read your father's letter and see the trust 
he reposed in me. But you were such a strange, shy 
little thing, and so delicate in all your ways. You 
never touched an article without permission, you han- 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


294 

died books so gently, you never made dog’s-ears, or 
crumpled a page. And that winter you were ill — and 
the faith you had in his return. How many times my 
heart ached for you. After that I could not have 
given you up, and I fell into a sort of belief that it 
would go on this always. When the lovers began 
to come, I found I must awake from my delusion. 
And then I knew that an oldish fellow could love a 
sweet girl in her first bloom, but that it would be a 
selfish, unpardonable thing.” 

“ Not if she loved him ! ” She raised her face in all 
its sweet bravery of color. 

“ But it was his duty to let her see what pleasure 
there was in the world for youth ; it was the promise to 
her dead father, who had confided his treasure to him. 
And even now he hesitates, lest you shall not have the 
best of everything.” 

“ I shall have the best ; ” with winning confidence. 

“ I loved your mother. I was a young lad, and she 
some five years older. I suppose I was like a young 
brother to her, because your father, her lover, had 
been here so much. And somehow, you slipped into 
the place where there never had been any other.” 

“ It must have been kept for me,” she said gravely. 
“ And now I give you warning that I shall never go 
out of it. No place could ever be so dear as this 
house with all its memories. I am glad you knew and 
loved my mother.” 

It came noon before they were talked out, or before 


THE FLOWERING OF THE SOUL 


295 

they had settled only one point, about which she 
would have her way. She wrote a pretty note to Mr. 
Saltonstall, reiterating some things she had said the 
evening before, and acknowledging that when she had 
tried to accept him, she had found her heart was 
another's, “and you are worthy of a woman’s best 
love,” she added, which did comfort him. 

Still it puzzled him a good deal, but he finally set- 
tled upon Anthony and thought it a rather foolish 
choice. No doubt but that Giles Leverett was back 
of it all. 

They told Cousin Eunice and Miss Winn. The 
former cried for sheer joy. She seemed older than 
her years, but she was well and bid fair to live years 
yet. 

“ Then you will never go away. I could not live 
without you, and as for Chilian ” 

“ It would only be half a life,” returned the lover, 
and he kissed Cousin Eunice. 

Miss Winn hardly knew whether to be pleased or 
not. She liked Mr. Saltonstall very much for his 
gayety, good humor, and fine presence, and then he 
had the divine gift of youth to match hers. Would 
she not tire of Chilian Leverett’s grave life? 


CHAPTER XVIII 


THE PASSING OF OLD SALEM 

After all, they were foolish lovers. She did not hoard 
up any sweetness. If he could not look forward to 
so many years, she must give him a double portion. 
That was her only regret about him, and she never 
confessed that. 

He was surprised at himself. If she had loved 
another, the wound of loneliness must have bled in- 
wardly until it sapped his life. Oh, how daintily 
sweet she was! Every day he found some new trait. 

“ You see,” she explained to Miss Winn, “ we shall 
all keep together. Father trusted you to the utter- 
most, and you have been nobly loyal. I couldn’t do 
without you. And no one could look so well after 
Cousin Eunice, who will keep growing older.” 

That was true enough. She was very well content 
in her home, and at her time of life did not care to 
try a new one. Cynthia was almost like a child to 
her. 

Meanwhile matters had not gone prosperously with 
old Salem, England had claimed her right of search, 
against which the country strongly protested. The 
British government issued orders, and the French 
296 


THE PASSING OF OLD SALEM 


297 


Emperor decrees, forbidding ships of neutrals to enter 
the ports, or engage in trade with their respective 
enemies. This crippled the trade of Salem. Then 
there had been the embargo, which for a while closed 
the ports. But the town went on improving. For- 
tunes had been made and now were being spent. But 
much of the shipping lay idle. Yet the social life went 
on, there was marrying and giving in marriage. 

Of course, there was some gossip about the Salton- 
stall fiasco. No one, at least very few, supposed a sen- 
sible girl would give up such an opportunity to settle 
herself. Miss Cynthia would no doubt use her best 
efforts to get him back. She seemed superbly indiffer- 
ent to the gossip. 

At first Chilian insisted upon an engagement of 
some length, so that she might be sure of the wisdom 
of the step. But she only laughed in her charming 
fashion, and declared she would not give up the old 
house, much more its owner. 

But they had a quiet wedding, with only the choicest 
friends, and then they went to Boston to escape the 
wonderings. Cousin Giles was really displeased. 

“ It’s an unfair thing for an old fellow like you to 
do. And you had money enough of your own ; 
her fortune should have gone to help some nice 
young fellow along. Why, really Cynthia has 
hardly outgrown childhood. You might have been 
her father ! ” 

“ Hardly ! ” returned Chilian dryly. 


298 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

On their return the house was opened and really 
crowded with guests. Cynthia was in her most splen- 
did attire. Happiness had certainly improved Chilian 
Leverett, he had gained some flesh and looked younger. 
The most beautiful belongings had been brought out 
to decorate the rooms. 

“ For I am not going to have them stored away for 
possible grandchildren/’ she declared gayly. 

And the guests had a charming welcome. The 
younger girls were truly glad she had made her elec- 
tion, and no one could deny that she was very much 
in love with her husband. Neither had need to marry 
for money, since both had fortunes. And they wished 
her health and happiness with all their hearts. 

Jane had said to her, “ Mis’ Leverett, there’s an old 
adage : 

" * Change the name and not the letter, 

You marry for worse and not for better.' ” 

Cynthia laughed. “ I’m not going to let signs or 
omens trouble me. And I haven’t even changed my 
name, so the letter cannot count. And it is one of the 
good old Salem names. It was my dear father’s.” 

One incident touched Cynthia deeply. Eunice took 
her up in the garret one day and exhumed from a 
chest the beautiful white quilt of Elizabeth’s handi- 
work. Pinned to one comer was a card, “ For my 
little Cynthia.” 

“ Only a few days before she had her stroke she 


THE PASSING OF OLD SALEM 


299 


made me write this and go up and pin it on the quilt. 
Maybe she’d had a warning, people do sometimes. I 
supposed she’d leave it to Chilian. Oh, my dear, she’d 
be so glad to have you go on in the old house if she 
could know.” 

Eunice wiped the tears from her eyes. Cynthia bent 
over and kissed among the stitches the poor fingers 
had toiled at day after day, sorry for the toil, glad for 
the love that came at the last. 

The Leverett house opened its doors with a gener- 
ous hospitality. People, men at least, began to think 
of something beside money-making, and some fine 
plans were broached. Chilian Leverett seemed to 
grow younger. Cynthia should not miss the joys of 
youth out of her life. He did something more than 
dance minuets, for her sake he essayed quadrilles. 
The exquisite motion with her, her dainty hand in his, 
or at times resting on his shoulder, filled him with an 
all-pervading delight. 

“ Chilian, do you realize that you are a really beau- 
tiful dancer?” she said one evening after they had re- 
turned from a small company. 

“ Then I must have caught it from you. In my 
youth dancing was considered frivolous.” 

“ And in India you hire the men and women to 
dance for you, and follow the enchanting motions with 
your eye. But it is so warm out there.” 

She had been playing one evening when she started 
up, exclaiming, “Let us try that new thing— the 


3 oo A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

waltz. It is just made for two people very much in 
love” 

“ It is ? ” He smiled in the eager face. It was said 
that she could twist him around her finger. “ Why, 
we have no music.” 

“I can sing the measure, just la, la!” and she 
started the melody. There were two long paths of 
moonlight through the wide-open shutters. Moon- 
light and sunshine were welcome visitors. She held 
out her hands. Just that way she had charmed others, 
and he yielded to the seductive influence. For, oh, 
she was so young and sweet. 

It was a little awkward at first, but they soon found 
the steps. It was rather slow and graceful, not the 
mad whirl of later times. It was considered rather 
reprehensible, but between husband and wife it was 
right enough. They found it very fascinating. 

After a while a sort of grave, sweet seriousness 
came over her. She liked to sit in the study and have 
him read poetry to her while she sewed. She had 
never loved sewing, but now she had taken a fancy 
to it. Dainty little lacey things, with the softest of 
muslins, treasures that had come from India. For 
there were stacks of towels and sheets and useful ar- 
ticles, so why should she bother about them? 

Jane was married and a middle-aged, homeless 
widow was very glad to come. Miss Winn took the 
head of the housekeeping, and Cousin Eunice was very 
willing. 


THE PASSING OF OLD SALEM 


301 

Then there came to them both a little son. Women 
often dream of babies of their own. but men have so 
many outside interests. There really were people at 
that time who thought children a boon and blessing 
of the Lord. Chilian Leverett was amazed, rendered 
speechless with joy. His own little son, Cynthia’s 
little son, the life and love of both hearts. His cup of 
joy and thankfulness ran over. For he had never 
imagined there could be such perfect bliss. He 
thought over the time when the little girl had come, 
and he had not wanted her. Now she had brought him 
life’s choicest blessing. 

Meanwhile events ran on which were to thrill all 
hearts and make stirring history. For war had been 
declared. 

Handsome, pleasure-loving Edward Saltonstall vol- 
unteered in the army. Perilous times there were on 
the northern frontier, dreadful losses, few gains, until 
suddenly the Lake battles changed the aspect and won 
the splendid victories that thrilled every heart. 

But Salem’s almost meteoric prosperity came to a 
sudden halt, for there was war on the high seas as 
well. The whole mercantile marine was refitted and 
turned out to win what it might in other channels. 
Privateering was held right enough in those days. 

There was the electrifying capture of the Guerriere 
and her being towed into Boston with Captain Dacres 
as a prisoner, and another to be quite as famous, that 
of the United States and the Macedonia , where the 


302 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


American loss seemed incredibly small. Other splen- 
did victories as well. But it was not until February, 
1815, after nearly four years of struggle and war, that 
peace was again declared with the Colonies as vic- 
torious. America had won her right to the liberty of 
the seas, as well as that of the land. 

But the supremacy of trade no longer could be 
claimed for Salem. Other ports were built up, other 
markets opened. Cities saw the advantage of foreign 
trade. American products were shipped hither and 
thither. No one city had the monopoly. 

But romances flourished all the same and were to 
be handed down to other generations. There was the 
old Forester house, with its legends, its lovely gardens, 
and fine pictures. And the beautiful house of Elias 
Hasket Derby, in which he had lived but such a short 
time. No one felt rich enough then to undertake such 
a costly establishment, and finally the estate came into 
possession of the city, and the big area was named 
Derby Square, and a commodious market built and a 
Town Hall. When that was opened President Monroe 
made a visit to Salem, and was enthusiastically re- 
ceived there, citizens thronging to see him. The next 
day Judge Story entertained him, and Mr. Stephen 
White, of Washington Square, gave a ball in his 
honor. The Leveretts were among the guests, and 
Captain Edward Saltonstall, who had won promotions 
by brave conduct under General Harrison, but was 
now a private citizen and a fine-looking man, with a 


THE PASSING OF OLD SALEM 


3°3 


new bevy of girls as eager for his attentions as the 
others were seven or eight years before. 

There was another guest who claimed, or at least 
received, a good share of attention. This was the 
naval Captain Marsh, who had been in the encounter 
between the Macedonia and the frigate United States, 
Captain Decatur, which was considered one of the 
greatest of the naval battles. For his bravery then 
and afterward, he had been promoted and was now a 
captain in command of a fine vessel. 

Cynthia was delighted to see him; but she said he 
must visit them to talk over matters and the wonders 
that had happened to him. She would not dance any, 
although she was in the grand march with her hus- 
band. Mr. Saltonstall she saw quite frequently. His 
parents were quite old people and he was devoted to 
them. 

She wondered at times if any old fancy kept him 
single. If so, she was sincerely sorry. For she had 
been very, very happy with the husband of her love. 
And in the household there were two merry, frolicking 
boys, and a sweet little girl, with her mother’s eyes. 

Captain Marsh did come and he was delighted with 
his visit. The little boys climbed over him as if they 
had known him always. He told the story of the ter- 
rific battle at the Canaries, and many another battle 
that had left him unscathed. 

“ And I used to think if I came back to old Salem 
and found you unmarried, it would go hard with me 


3°4 


A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 


if I could not win you,” he said to Cynthia in his cor- 
dial, manly fashion. “ And I confess to you now if 
Dame Wilby had struck you that day at school, I 
should have rushed at her like a tiger. I like that 
remembrance of you standing there so brave and 
defying.” 

They both laughed over it. 

She had changed very little. Chilian said she grew 
younger with the birth of every baby. She was happy 
and merry, truly the light of the house, and Cousin 
Eunice was the happiest grandmother in all of Salem. 
Miss Winn shared their joys — so far there had been 
no sorrows. 

Chilian grew a little stouter with advancing years, 
which really improved him. He took a warm interest 
in the new projects. There was the Essex Historical 
Society, gathering portraits and relics of the older 
Salem, and the East India Marine Society was en- 
larging its scope. The new Salem was to be curiously 
intellectual, historic, and one might say antiquarian. 
Modernized and transformed in many respects, it still 
has the old-time fragrance of sandalwood and in- 
cense when the chests in the old garrets are turned 
over for fine things that came from India a century 
before. 

Cousin Giles aged more rapidly, but then he was 
considerably older than Chilian. He did adopt young 
Anthony, and insisted upon his taking the name of 
Leverett, and a share of the business burthens. And 


THE PASSING OF OLD SALEM 


305 

he married quite to the approval of the elder man, 
though not such an heiress as Cynthia. 

And no one was dreaming that the little boy born 
in Union Street in 1804 was to add such interest 
and lustre to his native town that the scenes of his 
curious wizard-like romances were to be settled upon 
by those interested in them and handed down as actual 
occurrences. Do we not all know Hester Prynne and 
Mr. Dimmesdale, Phebe and Hephzibah and Judge 
Pyncheon, and weird old Dr. Grimshawe, and many 
another that have flitted through the pages of Haw- 
thorne’s strange romances, leaving Salem the richer 
by the memories? 

There was another little girl who was to grow up 
and take a great interest in all these things, and finally 
to see the old Leverett house pass away, after its more 
than two hundred years. But it was a new and doubly 
interesting Salem then, with its several evolutions that 
have passed and gone. 

She lived a long and happy life, this little girl who 
came back to her birthplace consigned to Chilian Lev- 
erett’s care, and won his love that never changed, or 
grew any less. Her sons never tired of the old remi- 
niscences. Many of the old houses were still standing. 
Here President Washington had been entertained ; here 
the artist Copley had lived and painted portraits that 
are heirlooms; Justice Story and his gifted son, poet 
and artist; Prescott, the historian, and many another 
of whom the country is proud to-day, and civilians 


/ 


3 o6 A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD SALEM 

whose fine thought and noble work have made the city 
a Mecca for intellectual tourists, and a beautiful and 
interesting abiding-place for her citizens, a town of 
three striking epochs that linger not only in tradition 
but in history. 


THE END 


SEP 25 (308 




